E.D. Pa.: Standing Order Re Artificial Intelligence (Judge Kai N. Scott, E.D. Pa.)
Judge Kai N. Scott · U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Verified September 30, 2026
- Citation
- Standing Order Re Artificial Intelligence (Judge Kai N. Scott, E.D. Pa.)
- Order date
- March 3, 2025
Summary
Applies when generative AI is used in a citation of any legal authority filed with the Court.
What does the order require?
- Applies when generative AI is used in a citation of any legal authority filed with the Court.
- Covers generative AI 'including but not limited to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or any other program that uses machine learning to create new content.'
- Filer must include a clear and plain factual statement disclosing AI involvement.
- Filer must name the specific AI program used.
- Filer must CERTIFY that each and every citation of legal authority has been verified as accurate.
- Separately, Section II.B.2 of Judge Scott's Policies and Procedures (Effective Date: August 2026) applies to any attorney or pro se party who 'has used Artificial Intelligence ("AI") in the preparation of any complaint, answer, motion, brief, or other paper': the filer must 'disclose that AI has been used in any way in the preparation of the filing, and CERTIFY, that each and every citation to the law or the record in the paper, has been verified as accurate.'
Practice areas: federal civil
What the order requires
Judge Scott’s standing order applies specifically to citations: when generative AI is used in citing any legal authority in a filing, the filer must (1) include a clear and plain factual statement disclosing AI involvement, (2) name the specific AI program used, and (3) CERTIFY that each and every citation has been verified as accurate. The order covers generative AI “including but not limited to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or any other program that uses machine learning to create new content.”
The Policies and Procedures rule
The standing order is not Judge Scott’s only AI provision. Section II.B.2 of her Policies and Procedures, carried since the edition marked “Effective Date: January 2025” and retained in the edition marked “Effective Date: August 2026,” uses the text of Judge Baylson’s 2023 standing order: any attorney or pro se party who “has used Artificial Intelligence (‘AI’) in the preparation of any complaint, answer, motion, brief, or other paper” must “disclose that AI has been used in any way in the preparation of the filing, and CERTIFY, that each and every citation to the law or the record in the paper, has been verified as accurate.”
That provision is broader than the standing order in two ways: it reaches any AI used in preparing a filing, not only generative AI used to cite authority, and its certification covers citations to the record as well as to the law. Both documents are posted on Judge Scott’s page and neither refers to the other, so filers before Judge Scott may wish to read them together.
Companion sanctions case
Judge Scott separately issued a sanctions opinion in 2025 imposing $2,500 plus mandatory CLE for citing hallucinated cases. That order is a sanctions decision in a specific case, distinct from this chambers standing rule.
Quotable line
“CERTIFY that each and every citation of legal authority has been verified as accurate.”
Primary source
Judge Scott’s standing order PDF, paed.uscourts.gov
Judge Scott’s Policies and Procedures PDF (Section II.B.2), paed.uscourts.gov