#lawfedi — Public Fediverse posts

The latest Lawyer Ex Machina is out: math + OpenAI = beef; CA's governor passes AI bills; Flock deploys drones as first responders; over 100 million driver's license data has been breached; and more #lawfedi #lawlibrarians #legaltech https://buttondown.com/LawyerExMachina/archive/math-problems/

On 9/10, the First Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in League of Women Voters/California v. Trump, litigation over Trump regime’s effort to take over vote-from-home via USPS regulations. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.305406/gov.uscourts.mad.305406.168.0.pdf

Because this litigation is confusing, quick recap on where things stand as of this thread. Federal District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued a preliminary injunction against Trump/USPS measures going into effect. 1/ #LawFedi

RE: https://mastodon.social/@heidilifeldman/117239685041610009

Another amicus brief is from the whistleblower who disclosed to Congress how intentionally USPS is working to disenfranchise eligible, lawful voters. The brief is VERY detailed. Available at https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26A305/423445/20260908170416299_USPS%20Amicus%20FINAL.pdf.

Amicus briefs are submitted by parties recognized as “friends of the court,” that is, parties with particular interest and expertise in the matter. 1/ #LawFedi

RE: https://mastodon.social/@heidilifeldman/117239685041610009

Another amicus brief is from the whistleblower who disclosed to Congress how intentionally USPS is working to disenfranchise eligible, lawful voters. The brief is VERY detailed. Available at https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26A305/423445/20260908170416299_USPS%20Amicus%20FINAL.pdf.

Amicus briefs are submitted by parties recognized as “friends of the court,” that is, parties with particular interest and expertise in the matter. 1/ #LawFedi

RE: https://mastodon.social/@heidilifeldman/117239685041610009

Another amicus brief is from the whistleblower who disclosed to Congress how intentionally USPS is working to disenfranchise eligible, lawful voters. The brief is VERY detailed. Available at https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26A305/423445/20260908170416299_USPS%20Amicus%20FINAL.pdf.

Amicus briefs are submitted by parties recognized as “friends of the court,” that is, parties with particular interest and expertise in the matter. 1/ #LawFedi

RE: https://mastodon.social/@heidilifeldman/117239685041610009

Another amicus brief is from the whistleblower who disclosed to Congress how intentionally USPS is working to disenfranchise eligible, lawful voters. The brief is VERY detailed. Available at https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26A305/423445/20260908170416299_USPS%20Amicus%20FINAL.pdf.

Amicus briefs are submitted by parties recognized as “friends of the court,” that is, parties with particular interest and expertise in the matter. 1/ #LawFedi

RE: https://mastodon.social/@heidilifeldman/117239685041610009

Another amicus brief is from the whistleblower who disclosed to Congress how intentionally USPS is working to disenfranchise eligible, lawful voters. The brief is VERY detailed. Available at https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26A305/423445/20260908170416299_USPS%20Amicus%20FINAL.pdf.

Amicus briefs are submitted by parties recognized as “friends of the court,” that is, parties with particular interest and expertise in the matter. 1/ #LawFedi

I’m reading some of the briefs that have been filed with the Roberts Court re the Trump regime’s effort to get the Roberts Six to stay Judge Talwani’s preliminary injunction prohibiting Trump and USPS from taking over vote-from-home in the 2026 election.

Yiddish has now entered the chat! Here’s a quote from an amicus brief submitted on behalf of the states. 1/ #LawFedi

I’m reading some of the briefs that have been filed with the Roberts Court re the Trump regime’s effort to get the Roberts Six to stay Judge Talwani’s preliminary injunction prohibiting Trump and USPS from taking over vote-from-home in the 2026 election.

Yiddish has now entered the chat! Here’s a quote from an amicus brief submitted on behalf of the states. 1/ #LawFedi

I’m reading some of the briefs that have been filed with the Roberts Court re the Trump regime’s effort to get the Roberts Six to stay Judge Talwani’s preliminary injunction prohibiting Trump and USPS from taking over vote-from-home in the 2026 election.

Yiddish has now entered the chat! Here’s a quote from an amicus brief submitted on behalf of the states. 1/ #LawFedi

I’m reading some of the briefs that have been filed with the Roberts Court re the Trump regime’s effort to get the Roberts Six to stay Judge Talwani’s preliminary injunction prohibiting Trump and USPS from taking over vote-from-home in the 2026 election.

Yiddish has now entered the chat! Here’s a quote from an amicus brief submitted on behalf of the states. 1/ #LawFedi

I’m reading some of the briefs that have been filed with the Roberts Court re the Trump regime’s effort to get the Roberts Six to stay Judge Talwani’s preliminary injunction prohibiting Trump and USPS from taking over vote-from-home in the 2026 election.

Yiddish has now entered the chat! Here’s a quote from an amicus brief submitted on behalf of the states. 1/ #LawFedi

#LegalEthics Tidbit #StarTrekDay Edition: Can I prosecute a crime I witnessed?

A member of the Kronos bar was appointed to prosecute two Star Fleet officers for an alleged murder. The prosecutor was present when the victim died. He cross-examined one of the defendants based on his own personal knowledge of the victim’s death. Among other things, he accused the defendant of medical malpractice based on the fact that the ... (cont.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_VI:_The_Undiscovered_Country
#law #lawfedi

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Is “panic” a good excuse for #AI hallucinations?

An Assistant US Attorney (AUSA) in NC “submitted a brief containing fabricated quotations and misstatements of case holdings” that were hallucinated by #AI. The AUSA initially did not admit AI use, but claimed the “error was clerical in nature and resulted from the inadvertent filing of an unfinalized draft document.” At a later show cause hearing, the AUSA stated that ... (cont.)

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nced.221403/gov.uscourts.nced.221403.131.0.pdf
#law #lawfedi

In one of my 1782 cases, the D. Del. recently denied a motion to vacate when the documents were sought for use in prospective Italian patent infringement litigation. The courts will not allow "fishing," but when you have a basis to bring a foreign claim and you seek evidence needed to plead the case, Section 1782 can be a lifesaver.

#1782 #lawfedi

https://lettersblogatory.com/2026/09/07/case-of-the-day-in-re-biogen/

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Can I partner with an ABS if my state doesn’t allow them?

An Alternative Business Structure (ABS) is essentially a law firm owned in part by non-lawyers, which is a no-no in most states but not in AZ. SC does not allow ABS structures, but an AZ ABS wanted to find a SC lawyer to take SC lawyer cases. The deal would be that the ABS finds the clients, then gets local counsel to do most, if not ... (cont.)

https://www.scbar.org/for-lawyers/quicklinks/legal-resources/ethics-advisory-opinions/ethics-advisory-opinion-25-02/
#law #lawfedi

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Should I get sanctioned for #AI hallucinations if I clean up my own mess before anyone else has noticed?

A MS lawyer was ordered to show cause why he should not be sanctioned for hallucinated citations in a brief to a federal court. In response, the lawyer stated that he practices alone so his client, “acting in the capacity of paralegal,” drafted the brief, and the lawyer did not properly review the citations. The lawyer ... (cont.)

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.alnd.198470/gov.uscourts.alnd.198470.36.0.pdf
#law #lawfedi

The latest Lawyer Ex Machina is out: Cities are fleeing Flock; NY bans classroom AI use for elementary and middle schoolers; and a Chilean lawyers breaks a court's electronic system by filing over 38,000 documents in 3 days (h/t to Damien Charlotin) #lawfedi #lawlibrarians #legaltech https://buttondown.com/LawyerExMachina/archive/de-flocking/

#LegalEthics Tidbit: If I tell my client to lie to the court and she refuses, have I engaged in deceptive conduct?

A VA lawyer told his client their case would benefit from a continuance, so he advised her to feign an illness and lie to the court about it in order to get a continuance. The lawyer advised her also to lie to her doctor: “say ‘I’ve been pooping my butt off and I’ve been throwing up… and they’ll give you some nausea ... (cont.)

https://vsb.org/Site/Site/news/summary/20251223-ayers.aspx
#law #lawfedi

#LegalEthics Tidbit: How can I make my #AI hallucinations sanctions worse, without even using #AI again?

A FL lawyer submitted a cert. petition to the District Court of Appeal that “cited a non-existent case allegedly from this Court and cited other cases that do not support this proposition.” In response to an order to show cause the lawyer acknowledged that “his normal process is to have artificial intelligence (“AI”) software research ... (cont.)

https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/10945803/jmor-properties-llc-v-artist-alley-townhomes-llc/?type=o&type=o&q=JMOR+PROPERTIES%2C+LLC%2C+Petitioner%2C+v.+ARTIST+ALLEY+TOWNHOMES%2C+LLC%2C+SAM+KIRZNER%2C+and&order_by=score+desc&stat_Published=on
#law #lawfedi

RE: https://mastodon.social/@heidilifeldman/117209346171417433

In the thread at the quoted post, I focused on the status of the litigation against Trump/USPS unconstitutionally taking over the process of ballots being mailed to voters who vote from home (e.g, voters who use absentee ballots or vote-by-mail ballots). Bottom line, Trump DoJ sure is acting like they know the Roberts Six will find a way to ok this on procedural grounds, leaving the merits of the case unaddressed.

But let’s suppose for a moment that this doesn’t happen. 1/ #LawFedi

Ok, take a deep breath everyone. I’m going to try to explain what is going on in California v. Trump/League of Women Voters v. Trump, the combined cases being heard by Judge Indira Talwani in the Massachusetts District Court, challenging Trump and USPS efforts to take over vote-from-home and disrupt the general election. 1/ #LawFedi

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Is #AI misuse driving up the nuisance (and settlement) value of cases?

A MS mother filed a pro se federal court complaint alleging that a school district failed to provide an education suited to the needs of her disabled child. She used “AI programs to generate an excessive number of overlong motions and thereby drive up the costs of defending this case for defendants … giving the appearance that she may be ... (cont.)

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.msnd.49798/gov.uscourts.msnd.49798.179.0.pdf
#law #lawfedi

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Should I save money by letting #AI assert my discovery objections for me?

In a workers’ compensation dispute in CA federal court between a worker and an insurance company, the insurance company submitted discovery objections and a privilege log, and the worker moved to compel further responses. The court observed that it “cannot overstate how gravely concerned it is by the rambling and often inapplicable objections ... (cont.)

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.cand.456545/gov.uscourts.cand.456545.31.0.pdf
#law #lawfedi

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Can I intimidate an adverse witness by invoking their immigration status?

Because we live in the worst timeline, the PA Bar received a spate of inquiries “related to attorneys questioning and invoking the immigration status of participants in legal proceedings.” The genesis of at least some of these inquires appears to have been an incident in 2025 when several defense attorneys threatened to report a ... (cont.)

https://www.pabar.org/Members/catalogs/Ethics%20Opinions/Formal/F2026-200.pdf
#law #lawfedi

👀

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/benglass_morgan-and-morgan-arbitration-briefs-are-activity-7493693183617384448-As1I

#LawFedi #PersonalInjury

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Can I tell the jury my witnesses will be “trustworthy and reliable” before they even testify?

In an IN criminal case, the prosecutor’s opening statement ended with: “[T]hat's the case, folks, in a nutshell. Now, you're going to hear from the State's witnesses. You're going to find that they're trustworthy and reliable.” Defense counsel objected that this was improper vouching, but the court overruled the objection.

... (cont.)

https://public.courts.in.gov/Decisions/api/Document/Opinion?Id=oWn7kvzhOnKATBSnN43t5HSXXc8GY_qNG_WN0TyGs5zd_IxE_bRL9PUW2OPkEgLu0
#law #lawfedi

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Do I still get sanctioned If #AI screws up my brief after I already did the legal research myself (I swear, I really did!)?

A CT lawyer “used LexisNexis to conduct the legal research necessary to draft his” appeal briefs, then “he verified the accuracy of the quotations and citations in the initial rough drafts using the Shepard's Citations Service on LexisNexis.” So far so good. But then he “copied and pasted those ... (cont.)

https://appellateinquiry.jud.ct.gov/DocumentDisplayer.aspx?AppId=2&DocId=nlP%2fFpeQxOD1iTMftvdSPw%3d%3d
#law #lawfedi

FTC and 22 state attorneys general allege Amazon concealed unfair charges in its digital advertising auction pricing

#lawfedi #consumerprotection #ftc #amazon

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/08/ftc-states-sue-amazon-over-secret-ad-surcharge-scheme

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Succession planning isn’t just for death and illness

The MT Supreme Court has adopted a new rule – Rule 34: Administrator Planning – to its Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement. Rule 34 requires each lawyer in private practice to designate both an Interim Administrator, another attorney who can be appointed to protect client rights in case the lawyer suddenly can’t practice anymore; and a “Person

https://juddocumentservice.mt.gov/getDocByCTrackId?DocId=577550
#law #lawfedi

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Is relying on #AI basically the same as relying on a junior associate for Rule 11 purposes?

Plaintiff’s counsel in a TN federal court litigation filed a document containing hallucinated quotations and misleading citations, which were generated by #AI. The Court assessed a Rule 11 sanction towards the “low end,” involving a public reprimand and a $1,500 fine, due to several mitigating factors (such as taking sole ... (cont.)

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.tnmd.91557/gov.uscourts.tnmd.91557.330.0.pdf
#law #lawfedi

Lawyer Ex Machina returns for the 2026-2027 academic year! Post mortems over OpenAI's agents hacking Hugging Face, a woman has her criminal contempt upheld for submitting deepfake evidence, a TikTok user goes off on a doctor who wore Meta smart glasses to a medical consult, and more #lawfedi #lawlibrarians #legaltech https://buttondown.com/LawyerExMachina/archive/welcome-class-of-2029/

I just cited to the American Practical Navigator by Nathanial Bowditch in a Daubert Reply, and I feel like I’m building some solid maritime law geek credentials.

#law #lawfedi #MaritimeLaw

There's a lot going on in the comments to Colorado's proposed regulations relating to the Automated Descison-Making Technology Act and Chatbot Safety Act.

#AI #consumerprotection #lawfedi

https://comments.coag.gov/s/colorado-automated-decision-making

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Do I get credit from the court for sort-of halfway-almost verifying my #AI citations?

A CT lawyer submitted a brief with all real cases, but that also included erroneous pinpoint citations, fake case quotes and misrepresentations of the law. On a show cause order, he explained that he wrote the brief himself, then ran it through Claude, ChatGPT and Open Law “for suggestions on arguments and ... (cont.)

https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ctd.169303/gov.uscourts.ctd.169303.43.0.pdf
#law #lawfedi

#LegalEthics Tidbit: If trial counsel is mistakenly listed on the docket as appellate counsel, can he ignore the appellate court’s orders?

After his first appointed trial counsel withdrew, an IA criminal defendant filed what was liberally construed as a pro se appeal from a pretrial order. Later, successor trial counsel was appointed. Successor counsel was also acknowledged by the appellate court clerk as counsel for the pending ... (cont.)

https://www.iowacourts.gov/iowa-courts/supreme-court/supreme-court-opinions/case/25-1787
#law #lawfedi

Today, federal District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued a 14 day emergency stay on USPS preparing to implement or implementing its now final rule attempting to control how states mail out ballots to vote-from-home voters. https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.298449/gov.uscourts.mad.298449.218.0_1.pdf 1/ #LawFedi

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Do the ethics rules require me to notice and call out my opponent’s #AI hallucinations?

The VA bar is considering proposed Legal Ethics Opinion 1902, entitled “DUTIES WHEN OPPOSING COUNSEL FAILS TO REVIEW AND CORRECT GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) OUTPUTS.” The opinion states that while most ethics guidance about AI has concerned AI users, there also needs to be a discussion about “ethical duties for ... (cont.)

https://vsb.org/common/Uploaded%20files/docs/20260527-leo-1902-proposed.pdf
#law #lawfedi

RE: https://scicomm.xyz/@dantheclamman/116954518144682511

We’re going to need some legal word smithing on the order of the #GPL and the #CreativeCommons licenses to make a false statement an offence in as many ways and jurisdictions as possible (any ideas, #lawFedi folks?), some #EXIF and #ID3v2 and #PNG and comparable metadata tags for carrying legal statements attesting to non-use of media synthesis (mislabelled as #genAI by GPT vendors and NPU/TPU manufacturers), some apps to interview and educate the user about media provenance and add those tags iff applicable, and some #Fediverse and web browser add-ons to filter out media lacking them unless verifiably produced before a given date.

Did you know that US v. #Comey over a photo of #seashells arranged to spell out 86 47 is still a thing.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/73256624/united-states-v-comey/

18 U.S. Code § 871(a)

> Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits for conveyance in the mail or for a delivery from any post office or by any letter carrier any letter, paper, writing, print, missive, or document containing any threat to take the life of, to kidnap, or to inflict bodily harm upon the President of the United States, the President-elect, the Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President of the United States, or the Vice President-elect, or knowingly and willfully otherwise makes any such threat against the President, President-elect, Vice President or other officer next in the order of succession to the office of President, or Vice President-elect, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

18 U.S. Code § 875(c)

> Whoever transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication containing any threat to kidnap any person or any threat to injure the person of another, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.

But "86" does not mean "kill" or "kidnap" or "injure" in its most common sense — it is diner slang still in use today to get rid of something or that they are out of something so the order has to be renegotiated.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/eighty-six-meaning-origin

As per court order (Doc 15):

Pre-trial motions due 2026/07/28.
Arraignment, if it happens, is scheduled for 2026/09/30.

#LawFedi #DOJ #Weaponization

Anyone have a contact in #Alphabet / #Google / #YouTube who could help Angela of #ParkrosePermaculture defend against a campaign of clearly malicious and vexatious abuses of the #copyrightStrike system?

Or maybe if someone's in contact with Steve Burke of #GamersNexus, or with #LouisRossmann, each of whom have dealt with this before, one of them could advise?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=962PcnCWp2c

#censorship #copyright #lawFedi #fairUse

@RitaWerner @verfassungsblog

#DEpol #LawFedi #Legal #Bundestag

(5/n)

...überproportional viele #Bundestagsabgeordnete selbst Juristen sind.👈

Aus meiner Sicht werden durch dies Maßnahme der "#Hausordnung" dadurch zumindest einzelne massiv in ihren Rechten beschnitten.

/s: Wer weiß, was man bei einer derzeit nicht unwahrscheinlichen, künftigen #AfD-Regierung nicht mehr aufhängen darf? Ein #Kruzifix sicherlich...

🔥🔥🔥
the latest resignation letter in Trump’s ongoing massacre of anti-corruption prosecutors who refuse to drop charges against #EricAdams is significantly shorter than #DanielleSassoon’s letter but damn if it doesn’t get straight to the point.

> "If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me."

p.s. #HaganScotten clerked for both #JohnRoberts and #BrettKavanaugh, has multiple bronze stars, and was #1 in his class at #Harvard Law.

p.p.s. the body count in this massacre is currently up to at least 7.

#SCOTUS #uspol #nypol #NYC #NY #newyorkcity #law #lawfedi #corruption

Tell me #mastodon, have I been incorrectly using #legalmastodon when I should be using #LawFedi? Have I only now found the best hashtag? What a dope I am!

#SuffolkLaw is looking for visitors to teach Civ Pro and Property next school year:

https://jobs.jobvite.com/careers/suffolkuniversity/job/oCRmsfw1?__jvst=Job%20Board&__jvsd=career_site

#LawJobs #LawFedi #LawProfs

I’m in the midst of leading a day and half long #LeadersFromLaw workshop for rising progressive lawyers and law students interested in public office. We are gathered at #TempleUniversity in #Philadelphia. The range of experience and talent these young lawyers and law students have and will bring to politics is exciting and uplifting. #LawFedi

I need help finding a US attorney who can help @EmeraldOnion navigate the types of legal demands we receive indicated on our Transparency Report https://emeraldonion.org/transparency/, boosts appreciated

can Signal me 206-739-3390 or bod at emeraldonion.org

#legalmastodon #legal #law #lawfedi

If you've been hanging out with me for a while on here you've heard me talk about #SubFeistDesigns.

If you're interested in learning more, I just posted an updated version of my article on that topic, "Uncreative Designs" (forthcoming Duke L.J.): https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4496762

#DesignPatents #LegalScholarship #LawFedi #LawProfs

Important article on vicarious criminal guilt (joint venture and felony murder). The authors find that, empirically, "racial bias has fueled the operation and survival of the rules. ... [I]mplicit racial bias has led to the automatic individuation of white men ... involved in group crimes, while at the same time created automatic de-individuation for Black and Latino men in similar situations." #LawFedi #FelonyMurder
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4411658

Now two attorneys (here's the second posting): https://www.usajobs.gov/job/738802300

#LawFedi #LawJobs