A Brooklyn-based attorney who filed a civil lawsuit against Bishop TD Jakes is facing a major financial penalty for using AI-generated content in court documents. As reported by AllHipHop, Tyrone Blackburn has been ordered to pay Jakes over $76,000 in attorney fees after submitting legal briefs “riddled with AI-generated nonsense.”
The case stems from a defamation lawsuit filed by Jakes against Duane Youngblood, whom Blackburn represented on a pro bono basis. Jakes’ lawsuit alleges that Youngblood made false claims on a live show that the bishop had groomed and tried to assault him decades ago, and accused him of trying to extort $6 million in hush money.
Blackburn admitted to the errors, citing new AI features from legal research tools as the cause. He stated that he had already begun fixing the citations before he was removed from the case in June. In a court filing, Blackburn stated, “I made no excuses then, and I make none now.” He pleaded with the judge to consider a lesser punishment, such as additional legal education hours, arguing that the $76,000 penalty would jeopardize his legal practice, which he said involves a significant amount of free work for low-income clients and abuse survivors.
Jakes’ lawyers, however, have argued that they spent more than 140 hours correcting the blunders, which they claim were filled with fake case law and phony legal information. They are requesting that Blackburn or his client pay the full amount within 30 days if the judge upholds the sanction.