S.D. Ohio: Standing Order Governing the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Judge…
Judge Jeffery P. Hopkins · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
Verified September 30, 2026
- Citation
- Standing Order Governing the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Judge Jeffery P. Hopkins, S.D. Ohio)
- Order date
- August 20, 2025
Summary
'[A]ny party, including any self-represented litigant, who uses generative AI to generate any portion of a motion, brief, pleading or other filing must attach to the filing a separate declaration disclosing the use of generative AI.'
What does the order require?
- '[A]ny party, including any self-represented litigant, who uses generative AI to generate any portion of a motion, brief, pleading or other filing must attach to the filing a separate declaration disclosing the use of generative AI.'
- In the declaration, 'the attorney or self-represented litigant must certify that he or she has reviewed the relevant source material and has verified that all submissions to the Court are accurate, and that the individual has otherwise complied with his or her Rule 11 obligations.'
- The declaration 'should be captioned: "Disclosure and Verification of Use of Generative AI."'
- The signer 'will be held responsible for the contents of that filing under Rule 11, regardless of whether that individual used generative AI to generate any portion of that filing.' 'Failure to comply with Rule 11(b) may result in sanctions.'
Practice areas: federal civil
What the order requires
Judge Jeffery P. Hopkins of the Southern District of Ohio signed his Standing Order Governing the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence on August 20, 2025. It opens by noting that “litigants are relying on text-generation software powered by Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) to prepare motions and other papers,” naming “ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Harvey.ai,” and that “litigants in this Court have submitted filings that include citations to non-existent cases or arguments and citations not warranted by existing law.”
The operative paragraph orders “that any party, including any self-represented litigant, who uses generative AI to generate any portion of a motion, brief, pleading or other filing must attach to the filing a separate declaration disclosing the use of generative AI.” In that declaration, “the attorney or self-represented litigant must certify that he or she has reviewed the relevant source material and has verified that all submissions to the Court are accurate, and that the individual has otherwise complied with his or her Rule 11 obligations.” The declaration “should be captioned: ‘Disclosure and Verification of Use of Generative AI.’”
Responsibility and sanctions
“Any attorney or self-represented litigant who signs a motion, brief, pleading or other filing submitted to the Court will be held responsible for the contents of that filing under Rule 11, regardless of whether that individual used generative AI to generate any portion of that filing. Failure to comply with Rule 11(b) may result in sanctions.”
Related orders
Judge Michael J. Newman’s standing order in the same district takes a different approach, barring AI use in filings rather than requiring a disclosure declaration. Firms with Southern District of Ohio matters may wish to check the assigned judge’s standing orders page.
Primary source
Standing Order Governing the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Hopkins, J.), August 20, 2025 (PDF), listed on Judge Hopkins’ Standing Orders page.