THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

 AI, like the rebels on Yalon 4 and Atollon, is wreaking havoc on the empire and the legal practice in general, and the judiciary in particular. There have been several instances of judges actually reading the pleadings we file, and in a few of those, uncareful practitioners have submitted motions that have made-up case law. 

Here's a Rumpole practice tip: if you ask Claude to draft a motion to suppress a search and the motion contains a cite to a case holding  something like "The Fourth Amendment prohibits this type of unrestrained actions by law enforcement...:" you should be on alert that your AI is making things up. No judge or judicial panel would write such a thing in the age of DeSantis and/or the current Supreme Court. 

So the Florida Supreme Court has struck back. Your pleadings will soon be required to have this certification:  “the legal authorities identified exist and are accurately cited."

The court did this on its own- called sua sponte- or literally "after drinking a shot of caefcito and having a burst of energy"

The opinion is attached as part of our public service requirements. 

You will note the absence of a two-way street here. Judges need not certify their orders. Wonder why. 

Opinion_SC2026-0673 by Anonymous PbHV4H

** An earlier post was entitled Revenge of the Jedi, but it did not convey the gist of the post that the Florida Supreme Court is the empire and not the rebels. 

AI

 Good cold Tuesday morning as all eyes in the nation are on South Florida as we dig out and struggle from under 50-degree bitter cold. We are tough. We are hardy. We will get through this like a calendar call in Hialeah with a judge an hour late. We will survive. 

If like us, you live for Miami-Dade Court administrative orders, then Monday was a day you will not soon forget. It reminds all of us that AI stands for more than Asinine. 

There's a new administrative order requiring all parties to include the following certification on all motions (this in addition to the already required certifications:  "I certify that nothing in this motion mentions global warming or climate change"  [The DeSantis certification];  "I certify that nothing in this motion speaks favorably of the rights of immigrants, trans people, or veganism"  [The 2026 Life in America certification]; and of course the "I hereby certify that nothing in this motion makes any reference to diversity, equity and inclusion other than to rightfully ridicule such ideas" [The DEI certification]).

The filing shall include a statement substantially in the following form: "Generative artificial intelligence was used in the preparation of this filing. The undersigned certifies that all factual assertions, legal authority, and citations have been independently reviewed and verified for accuracy and accepts full responsibility for the contents of this filing." 

We are not making this up.  Sometimes judges just make life for a legal blogger so very easy. 

First- if you are a lawyer and you are using AI to write motions and are not carefully checking each citation AI is giving you, shame on you. Do your job which is more than creating IG posts. 

Second, why? 

If a lawyer cites a case to the court that does not exist, then they get what they deserve. They should lose and be roundly shammed. 

So what is going on here? You have come to the right place for the answers you will not get anywhere else. 

As usual it is our civil brothers and sisters who are driving this train wreck. Rumor is that in filing the hundreds of boilerplate motions seeking legal fees from insurance companies, the civil firms are using paralegals and AI in the place of a real lawyer. Then, poor civil judges are wading through the motions, seeing cases they don't recognize, and discovering that the cite is fake. Then, at the five-minute motion hearing the lawyers are blaming AI, and as Sy Gaer might have said, are muttering mea culpa and that it's "A sad and tragic mistake that will not happen again" (of course Sy would never have used AI). 

But until now the civil judges were powerless, something akin to them getting the check at lunch at Joes- a very uncomfortable feeling for them.  They could find that the lawyer violated Bar rules for candor towards the court and to prepare for hearings, but they could not impose a fine, and ahhh therein lied the rub, because what's a good civil case without the threat of sanctions? 

So now, our civil friends have to sign the pleading with the certification and when a fake AI case slips through, your favourite civil robe wearer can do what makes them happiest (because in civil court they cannot impose a max sentence after trial), they can impose Sanction$ !!!

So pull up your motions to suppress and dismiss and continue and rules to show cause and include the certification on every motion and thank your civil friends for once again making the practice of law even harder than it should be. 

And don't forget to add to all your criminal motions the Victim Certification "I hereby certify that I fully understand the victim wants the max!" 

Here is the Admin Order. 

Administrative Order No. 26-04 Disclosure of Use of Generative AI by Anonymous PbHV4H

BLOG CERTIFICATION 

The undersigned certifies that all factual assertions, legal authority, and citations have been made by the blogger without use of any legal authority or Artificial Intelligence and without much concern for factual or legal accuracy. 

H Rumpole, Blog Proprietor 

LIONS AT RAVENS & APPLE

 We do not have a strong feeling on tonight's game. The Over 54 seems too high. We like the Lions +4.5 but only for a few bucks. 

In the market today Apple soared over ten dollars after the demand for the iPhone 17 was record breakingly strong this weekend. The news out of China, where Apple has faced stiff competition for the last few years was even better, as demand was very strong and that did not include the surprise hit of the iPhone 17 Air which currently cannot be sold in China until the chip in the phone is approved. 

All in all, Apple once again surprised critics by bringing a superior product to market and quieting the naysayers. And the ten-point run today occurred without any news about Apple's AI project which is not expected to be unveiled until 2026. Apple has been beaten up pretty badly for most of 2025 because of its perceived laggard performance in AI. And yet all they did was bring a fantastic series of new phones to the market. Faith in Apple has always been rewarded, even if sometimes it tests your patience. That is why we reiterate the maxim "Hold Apple; Do Not Trade It." 

If Apple could surprise the market with the new iPhone 17, imagine what they are going to do when they do unveil their new AI next year. 

And speaking of AI, Nvidia popped today when CEO Jensen Huang revealed a small 100 Billion (with a B) investment in Open AI. 

These are amazing times we are living in. We are on the cusp of an AI revolution that will change nearly everything about how we live our lives, including how law is practiced, and how law firms are staffed (hint- current AI is replacing teams of first, second, and third year legal associates). 

There's never been a better time to consider plumbing as a profession. Just sayin read the writing on the wall: 

"AI WUZ HERE" 

AI

 The Florida Bar has issued an opinion on AI, on the heels of their last-much anticipated opinion on the internet released last week ("The internet also known as the world wide web has the potential to help lawyers and clients through the use of such innovations as email. We however urge caution as electronic data will never replace letters, paper filing and lawyers appearing in court...").

You don't have to read the whole thing, and of course if you wear a robe to work, you don't have to read any of it, you have better things for your time. 

But here is our summary- AI is good and useful and if you use it the wrong way we will sanction you. 

FL Bar Ethics Op 24 1 by Anonymous PbHV4H on Scribd