FTC ALJ: Scheduling Order Mandatory Certification Regarding Use of Generative AI (Federal…
Hon. Jane H. Ayoubi, Administrative Law Judge · Federal Trade Commission, Office of Administrative Law Judges
Verified May 8, 2026
- Citation
- Scheduling Order Mandatory Certification Regarding Use of Generative AI (Federal Trade Commission, ALJ Jane H. Ayoubi)
- Order date
- September 13, 2024
Summary
Each motion, opposition, reply, or other paper filed with the FTC ALJ must be accompanied by a certification under one of two attestations: either (1) no portion of the filing was drafted by generative AI (such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Harvey.AI, or Google Gemini), or (2) any language in the filing that was drafted by generative AI was checked for accuracy by human attorneys or paralegals using printed legal reporters and/or online legal databases.
What does the order require?
- Each motion, opposition, reply, or other paper filed with the FTC ALJ must be accompanied by a certification under one of two attestations: either (1) no portion of the filing was drafted by generative AI (such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Harvey.AI, or Google Gemini), or (2) any language in the filing that was drafted by generative AI was checked for accuracy by human attorneys or paralegals using printed legal reporters and/or online legal databases.
- Any filing that fails to comply with the mandatory certification requirements may be stricken on that ground.
- The certification requirement is one of several mandatory provisions in the scheduling order; counsel must read the entire order for word-count limits (Rule 3.22(c)) and confidentiality provisions (Rule 3.45(e)).
Practice areas: federal administrative
What the rule requires
ALJ Ayoubi’s scheduling order embeds a mandatory generative-AI certification within the broader case-management framework. The certification is binary: either no portion of the filing was AI-drafted, or any AI-drafted portion was human-checked for accuracy using printed legal reporters or online legal databases. The remedy for noncompliance is filing-strike: any filing without the certification “may be stricken on that ground.”
What makes the FTC ALJ rule structurally distinctive is its embedding within scheduling orders rather than a freestanding chambers rule. ALJ Ayoubi has been issuing the same certification language across multiple administrative matters (Asbury Automotive Group, Inc., et al. is the cited example), making this an across-the-docket certification regime rather than an order-specific requirement. Counsel appearing before the FTC ALJ should anticipate the certification requirement at the scheduling-order stage of any new matter.
The rule’s scope is “generative AI” specifically, naming ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Harvey.AI, and Google Gemini. It applies to attorneys and pro se litigants alike. As an FTC administrative proceeding, the rule operates within the FTC Rules of Practice (16 C.F.R. Part 3) rather than the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, but the substantive certification structure parallels the federal trial-court certification regimes at e.g., E.D. Okla. (Robertson) and W.D. Okla. Bankr. (GO 23-01).
R&G data corrections
R&G’s tracker dates this entry 2024-09-13, which matches the FTC OSCAR filing stamp on the order PDF. No correction needed.
Quotable language
“Each motion, opposition, reply, or other paper filed with the Office of the Secretary … shall be accompanied by a certification that the attorney or pro se litigant certifies that either: (1) no portion of the filing was drafted by generative artificial intelligence (‘AI’) (such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Harvey.AI, or Google Gemini), or (2) any language in the filing that was drafted by generative AI was checked for accuracy by human attorneys or paralegals using printed legal reporters and/or online legal databases.”
“Any filing that fails to comply with these mandatory certification requirements may be stricken on that ground.”