Bankr. S.D. W. Va.: Announcement Concerning the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence…
Court (unsigned announcement) · U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
Verified September 30, 2026
- Citation
- Announcement Concerning the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Preparation of Filings (U.S. Bankruptcy Court, S.D. W. Va.)
- Order date
- April 15, 2026
Status and scope
No AI-specific filing obligation: in force, but it imposes no disclosure, verification, or use restriction on attorney filings beyond existing rules. It provides: 'It is necessary to remind all litigants, whether unrepresented or represented, that they are subject to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9011.'
What the instrument provides
- 'It is necessary to remind all litigants, whether unrepresented or represented, that they are subject to Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9011.'
- 'Because one of the major drawbacks of GAI is its capacity to hallucinate, including creating fabricated case citations and quotations, all litigants are required to independently verify that the case citations exist and support the proposition for which they are cited, and that any quotations are accurate.'
- 'Litigants are to be mindful in using GAI tools, such as, but not limited to, CHAT-GPT, Claude, Gemini, Protégé, and CoCounsel.'
- 'Potential sanctions under Rule 9011 may include, but are not limited to, fines, filing restrictions, required completion of continuous legal education courses for attorneys, or reporting to the Lawyer Disciplinary Board.'
- No disclosure or certification of AI use is required.
Practice areas: bankruptcy
What the announcement requires
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of West Virginia posted a one-page announcement on the use of generative AI (GAI) in filings. It acknowledges that GAI can help unrepresented litigants, then reminds “all litigants, whether unrepresented or represented,” that Fed. R. Bankr. P. 9011 (which applies Rule 11’s standards) governs every filing, which “must be well-grounded in fact and warranted by existing law.”
Its operative sentence is a verification requirement: because GAI can fabricate “case citations and quotations, all litigants are required to independently verify that the case citations exist and support the proposition for which they are cited, and that any quotations are accurate.” It names ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Protégé, and CoCounsel as examples and lists potential Rule 9011 sanctions, including fines, filing restrictions, CLE for attorneys, and referral to the Lawyer Disciplinary Board, while noting that sanctions are “determined on a case-by-case basis.”
The announcement requires no disclosure or certification of AI use.
Context
The tracker lists the announcement as advisory: it restates Rule 9011 as applied to AI-assisted filings. It is the only court-wide AI statement on filings located in West Virginia’s federal courts as of September 2026. See the West Virginia tracker page.
Primary source
Announcement Concerning the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Preparation of Filings (PDF), U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of West Virginia.