S.D. Tex. (Brownsville Division): Judge Rolando Olvera, Local Rules (Civil), Section 8.C…

What the rule requires

Section 8 of Judge Rolando Olvera’s Local Rules (Civil), governing initial pretrial and scheduling conferences, includes a “Mandatory Certificate Regarding Generative Artificial Intelligence”:

“(1) All attorneys and pro se litigants appearing before the Court must, together with their proposed scheduling order, file a certificate attesting either that no portion of any filing will be drafted by generative artificial intelligence (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Harvey.AI, or Google Bard) or that any language drafted by generative artificial intelligence will be checked for accuracy, using print reporters or traditional legal databases, by a person.

(2) The Court will strike any filing from a party who fails to file a certificate on the docket attesting that they have read the Court’s judge-specific requirements and understand that they will be held responsible under Rule 11 for the contents of any filing that they sign and submit to the Court, whether or not generative artificial intelligence drafted any portion of that filing.”

The certificate

The appendix form, signed by the “Attorney-in-Charge or Pro Se Litigant”, certifies that “no portion of any filing will be drafted by generative artificial intelligence or that any language drafted by generative artificial intelligence”, including “quotations, citations, paraphrased assertions, and legal analysis”, “will be checked for accuracy, using print reporters or traditional legal databases, by a person before it is submitted to the Court.”

It is a one-time, per-case certificate filed with the proposed scheduling order, not a statement on each filing. It does not require the filer to say whether AI was actually used.

Scope

Civil cases before Judge Olvera (Brownsville Division). S.D. Tex. General Order 2025-04 applies district-wide in addition.

Primary source

Judge Rolando Olvera, Local Rules (Civil), last updated May 22, 2026 (PDF)