Neal v. Frayer
U.S. District Court, District of Maryland · D. Md. · Maryland bar guidance
Verified May 14, 2026
- Citation
- Neal v. Frayer, No. 8:24-cv-00778-BAH (D. Md. Nov. 17, 2025) (Hurson, J.)
- Decided
- November 17, 2025
Summary
In a Section 1983 excessive-force action against Mount Rainier police officer Brian S. Frayer, plaintiff's counsel filed responsive briefing containing citation errors of the type associated with generative AI hallucination. The same counsel had previously been called out for hallucinated citations in Lafferty v. Theiss, No. 24-2642-SAG (D. Md.), where counsel admitted failing to perform the line-by-line verification Rule 11(b)(2) requires, represented that exclusive reliance on artificial intelligence in the firm's briefing was now prohibited, and listed a series of protocols implemented so that reliance on hallucinated authority would not recur. To confirm its suspicion that generative AI played a role, the court ran the questionable citations in Neal through several well-known generative AI platforms and found generated content referencing the cited cases. District Judge Brendan A. Hurson noted the recurrence but declined to issue a show cause order or impose sanctions, citing counsel's prior remedial assurances in Lafferty.
- AI tool:
- Unspecified generative AI
What sanction did the court impose?
No monetary sanction, no show cause order, and no bar referral. Judge Hurson addressed the citation defects in the memorandum opinion as a warning, effectively putting counsel on notice that further recurrence after the Lafferty assurances would not be treated with similar restraint.
Why does Neal v. Frayer matter for law firms using AI?
Neal v. Frayer is useful for managing partners precisely because no sanction issued. The court’s restraint rested entirely on counsel’s earlier representations, in Lafferty v. Theiss, that the firm had adopted concrete verification controls: PDF-level confirmation of each citation and independent review before filing. The implicit message is that a one-time forbearance is conditional on those controls being real and operative, and that documented firm-level AI-use protocols are what bought counsel the second chance. Firms relying on individual attorney diligence rather than written, firm-wide procedures have no comparable record to point to when a citation defect surfaces.
Sources
Primary sources
Further reading
- Justia (legal aggregator)
- Document mirror (Damien Charlotin hallucination database, Westlaw printout)
Source PDF is a Westlaw printout mirrored from the Damien Charlotin hallucination database. We are working to add the underlying court docket (PACER, CourtListener, or court website) as a second source.