The Florida Supreme Court issued an order today amending the state’s rules of judicial administration to penalize anyone who submits court filings containing fake or “hallucinated” legal citations generated by artificial intelligence.
In an opinion released May 28, 2026, the court amended Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.515(d)(2). The updated rule now requires anyone signing a court document to certify that “the legal authorities identified exist and are accurately cited.”
The rule change applies equally to licensed attorneys and unrepresented individuals. Under the new guidelines, Florida courts are authorized to hand down explicit sanctions for non-compliance. According to the court, potential penalties include formal reprimands, contempt charges, striking the document from the record, dismissing the case entirely, or ordering the offending party to pay costs and attorneys’ fees.
The court acted on its own motion to address the growing integration of large language models and generative AI tools in legal research and drafting.
“Though these tools can be helpful, they also can generate content that appears plausible but is in fact inaccurate, including fabricated or ‘hallucinated’ authorities,” the court stated in its per curiam opinion.
According to the accompanying court commentary, the amendments were adopted “principally to create a statewide, uniform replacement for varied circuit court administrative orders imposing disclosure and certification requirements about the use of artificial intelligence in filings.”
The justices noted that the new rule is intended to establish clear authority for judges across the state to penalize inaccurate filings without altering the courts’ existing powers to punish other rule violations.
Chief Justice Carlos G. Muñiz and Justices Jorge Labarga, John D. Couriel, Jamie R. Grosshans, Renatha Francis, Meredith Sasso, and Joseph Lewis Jr. all concurred with the decision.
The rule changes are scheduled to take effect on June 15, 2026, at 12:01 a.m. Because the amendments were not open for public feedback prior to today’s announcement, the court has established a 75-day window for interested parties to submit formal comments. The deadline for submitting public comments or requesting oral arguments is August 11, 2026.
READ: Whistleblower Warning: Florida Supreme Court Slams Door On ‘Good Faith’ Claims Under State Law
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