Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly recently featured a Superior Court ruling in a wage and employment dispute being handled by Rudolph Friedmann attorneys Casey Sack and Adam Shafran.

In a May 28, 2026, decision, the court denied an out-of-state attorney’s application for admission pro hac vice after finding that legal filings submitted in the case contained fictional case citations and mischaracterized legal authorities. The court also struck the attorney’s motion to dismiss, finding that the out-of-state attorney “wholly misconstrued the law and bastardized the case holdings and rulings.” This decision joins the growing list of venues confronting the misuse of artificial intelligence in legal filings. The ruling is a reminder that courts are scrutinizing the accuracy of legal filings and the authorities cited in them. It also signals that lawyers remain responsible for the content of their submissions, regardless of how those filings are prepared.

Casey, who was quoted in the article, noted that challenges to pro hac vice admission are uncommon and emphasized that the focus can now return to litigating the underlying claims.

Read the article “Another judge denies pro hac vice bid over fake case citations” on the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly website (subscription required).