Trump instructs DOJ to terminate Biden-era US attorneys, AI 'hallucinations' spell trouble for lawyers, judge questions Musk's power, and more ??
Reuters Legal
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?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here is the rundown of today's top legal news:
?? Trump says he has instructed DOJ to terminate all remaining Biden-era US attorneys
President Donald Trump said he has instructed the Justice Department to terminate all remaining Biden-era U.S. attorneys, asserting that the department had been "politicized like never before."
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said:
"We must 'clean house' IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence. America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System - THAT BEGINS TODAY."
Last week, the White House sent termination notices to several U.S. Attorneys around the country who had been appointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden.
On Feb. 17, several U.S. attorneys appointed by Biden announced they were stepping down. Others left the government last week.
While it is customary for U.S. Attorneys to step down after a change in the presidential administration, usually the incoming administration asks for their resignations and does not issue tersely worded termination letters, current and former Justice Department lawyers say.
?? AI 'hallucinations' in court papers spell trouble for lawyers
AI's penchant for generating legal fiction in case filings has led courts around the country to question or discipline lawyers in at least seven cases over the last two years, and created a new high-tech headache for litigants and judges, Reuters found.
U.S. personal injury law firm Morgan & Morgan sent an urgent email this month to its more than 1,000 lawyers: Artificial intelligence can invent fake case law, and using made-up information in a court filing could get you fired.
A federal judge in Wyoming had just threatened to sanction two lawyers at the firm who included fictitious case citations in a lawsuit against Walmart. One of the lawyers admitted in court filings last week that he used an AI program that "hallucinated" the cases and apologized for what he called an inadvertent mistake.
Generative AI is known to confidently make up facts, and lawyers who use it must take caution, legal experts said. AI sometimes produces false information, known as "hallucinations" in the industry, because the models generate responses based on statistical patterns learned from large datasets rather than by verifying facts in those datasets.
Andrew Perlman, dean of Suffolk University's law school said:
"When lawyers are caught using ChatGPT or any generative AI tool to create citations without checking them, that's incompetence, just pure and simple."
?? US judge will not block Elon Musk from firing federal workers, accessing data
A judge on Feb. 18 declined to immediately block Elon Musk's government efficiency department from directing firings of federal workers or accessing databases, but said the case raises questions about Musk's apparent unchecked authority as a top deputy to President Donald Trump.
Washington-based U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan denied — for now — a request by more than a dozen states for a judicial order barring the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing computer systems at seven federal agencies or purging government workers while litigation plays out.
The lawsuit sought to bar DOGE from accessing information systems or firing employees at the departments of Labor, Education, Health and Human Services, Energy, Transportation and Commerce, and at the Office of Personnel Management.
Chutkan could eventually rule in favor of the states but said in her ruling that their request for an emergency court order was too broad and speculative.
?? US judge temporarily halts firings of 11 CIA officers, lawyer says
A U.S. judge on Feb. 18 put on hold for five days the firings of 11 CIA officers who were ordered to resign or face imminent termination over their temporary jobs with the spy agency's diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs.
In an administrative stay issued after a hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Trenga gave the government until Feb. 20 to file a response to the officers' request for a temporary restraining order, and set arguments for Feb. 24.
Plaintiffs' lawyer, Kevin Carroll, himself a former CIA undercover officer, told Reuters:
"These people are being fired just because of an assumption that's been made that they are leftists."
Carroll said his clients are among 51 CIA officers temporarily assigned to DEIA programs who were placed on paid administrative leave two days after U.S. President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order on Jan. 22 ending such programs across the government.
?? That's all for today, thank you for reading The Legal File, and have a great day!
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