An article by Oliver Roberts, adjunct professor and co-director of the WashU Law AI Collaborative, brought to attention an error in the Fifth Circuit’s guidance on artificial intelligence. Days after publication and subsequent national coverage, the court’s website displayed a corrected notice.
In his September 22 article for The National Law Review, “The Fifth Circuit Warned Lawyers to Verify Citations, Then Cited the Wrong Rule Itself,” Roberts examined a June 2024 notice announcing the court’s decision against adopting a special rule governing AI use in briefs. The notice reminded lawyers to verify their filings but cited a bankruptcy appeals provision instead of the intended attorney discipline rule. However, as Roberts identified, it contained a citation to the incorrect appellate rule.
His article explained that the incorrect citation had remained online for more than two years and had spread into subsequent legal commentary from a sitting judge and top law firm.
The issue subsequently received coverage in the ABA Journal’s September 23 story, “5th Circuit tells lawyers to verify citations—and cites wrong rule in doing so” and cited Roberts’ article.
By Saturday, September 26, the erroneous notice had been removed from the court’s website and replaced with a corrected version. The notice now posted by the Fifth Circuit cites Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 46(b)(1)(B)—the correct rule, according to Roberts.
