DOJ Lawyer Quits Before Judicial Scolding for AI Brief Error (1)
Source: Bloomberg Law
DOJ Lawyer Quits Before Judicial Scolding for AI Brief Error (1)
March 10, 2026, 5:39 PM EDT
Kyle Jahner
IP Reporter
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An assistant US attorney in North Carolina said he’s resigning over AI-created fabricated quotes and erroneous citations in an AI-produced court brief.
Assistant US attorney Rudy Renfer said he’s made “a personal decision to separate from the office” of the US attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina during a Tuesday afternoon show-cause hearing. Magistrate Judge Robert Numbers chastised Renfer’s “disappointing” conduct, including for a lack of candor in accounting for the errors when it was discovered.
Renfer said after he accidentally overwrote and lost a prior version of the filing, he “felt panicked” and had AI rewrite it, then filed it thinking he’d reviewed it when he filed. He took full responsibility for the “unacceptable” filling, stating he’d been working on multiple filings and “put too much on myself at the same time.”
Numbers said the case was especially disappointing given the particular “power and responsibility” of the US attorney’s office. He also repeatedly suggested that Renfer’s explanations “strained credulity” including as to why his filed explanation didn’t mention AI.
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The case is Fivehouse v. U.S. Department of Defense, E.D.N.C., No. 2:25-cv-00041, Show-cause hearing 3/10/26.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kyle Jahner in Raleigh, N.C. at kjahner@bloomberglaw.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Seth Stern at sstern@bloomberglaw.com
Read more: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/ip-law/doj-lawyer-resigns-before-judicial-scolding-for-ai-filled-brief
Saturday:
Federal Prosecutor Used Fabricated Quotes in Court Filing (2)
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143628323