Source: Reason — The Volokh Conspiracy

Kansas District Court Judge W. Lee Fowler reduced an attorney-fee award in Ellis v. McNeese after finding false citations and other misrepresentations, while suspecting generative AI assistance. The plaintiff’s lawyer had secured a nursing student’s reinstatement at Flint Hills Technical College following punishment for a religiously motivated vaccine refusal. The court calculated recoverable fees at $101,640, against approximately $300,000 requested, before imposing a further 50% reduction to $50,820. According to the quoted decision, an opposition filed on 20 October 2025 misused two existing decisions and cited at least six nonexistent Kansas cases. The lawyer characterized the citation problems as technical and clerical and maintained that the underlying legal propositions were accurate. Judge Fowler rejected that explanation and suspected generative AI use, but the lawyer did not admit using AI and the decision did not establish such use.

The sanction also addressed the lawyer’s submission of a proposed court entry falsely representing that defense counsel had approved it. The court found that submission violated Rule 170 and vacated the entry. Judge Fowler considered the citation conduct and the misrepresented approval apparent violations of professional conduct Rule 3.3. The decision reserved adjudication of professional misconduct to the Kansas attorney disciplinary authority and directed that the order be forwarded for consideration. Judge Fowler emphasized that district judges depend on lawyers to provide accurate authorities and truthful representations about approval of court entries. An appeal concerning the fee award was pending, according to the source.