N.D. Cal.: Civility and Professionalism Standing Order Section VII: Use of AI (Cases Assi…
Judge Trina L. Thompson · U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Verified April 27, 2026
- Citation
- Civility and Professionalism Standing Order Section VII: Use of AI (Cases Assigned to Judge Thompson)
- Order date
- January 1, 2025
Summary
AI use is not prohibited; counsel must personally confirm the accuracy of any AI-assisted work product.
What does the order require?
- AI use is not prohibited; counsel must personally confirm the accuracy of any AI-assisted work product.
- Failure to exercise due care in reviewing and filing work product created with the assistance of AI tools may result in sanctions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11.
- Cites ABA Resolution 604 (2024) on responsible AI use by attorneys.
Practice areas: federal civil
What the order requires
Judge Trina L. Thompson’s Civility and Professionalism Standing Order, Section VII, takes a Rule 11 caution approach grounded in attorney professionalism. The order does not prohibit AI use, does not require disclosure, and does not impose a separate certification. It cites ABA Resolution 604 (2024) on responsible AI use as the framing standard and warns that failure to exercise due care in reviewing AI-assisted work product may result in Rule 11 sanctions.
For practical purposes, this is among the lighter-touch chambers AI orders in the N.D. Cal. set: no procedural step at filing time, just a statement that the same Rule 11 standard applies and the same sanctions exposure follows from a hallucinated citation in a Thompson filing as in any other federal court.
Primary source
Standing order: https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/standing-orders/TLT-Civility-and-Professionalism-Standing-Order.pdf