Court of Appeals holds show‑cause hearing after petition contained AI‑generated, nonexistent authorities

A three-judge panel of the Utah Court of Appeals held an Order to Show Cause hearing after a petition for interlocutory relief filed in Gardner v. Cadence included case citations that do not exist or that were cited to support propositions they do not actually hold. Counsel for the petition's filers acknowledged that a law clerk used ChatGPT to draft portions of the filing and that the firm failed to verify the authority before filing. The court said it would take the matter under advisement.

"This filing was a serious mistake," Matthew Barnett told the panel on behalf of respondents to the show‑cause order, explaining that the petition bore the name of Douglas D'Urbano but was signed and filed by Richard Bednar. Barnett said Bednar had not reviewed every citation and that a law clerk had used ChatGPT to draft portions of the petition. "He did not know that AI had been used to generate anything in connection…