November 2026 Update

6 decisionsSep. 16 – Oct. 30, 2026

D. Nev. · 5th Cir. · Fla. 4th DCA · 10th Cir. · Va. Ct. App. · 3d Cir.

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Privilege & Work Product

Nevada federal court holds that an expert's ChatGPT legal case summaries are discoverable, but his prompts, AI-generated deposition outline, and draft-report materials are protected.

Villanueva v. Las Vegas Metro. Police Dep't, No. 2:24-cv-00125-ART-DJA, ECF No. 112 (D. Nev. Sept. 29, 2026)

D. Nev.•September 29, 2026

Plaintiff's expert testified that he used ChatGPT to research and draft his report, and the magistrate judge ordered production of the entire 40-page history log. The district court granted in part and overruled in part plaintiff's objection to that order.

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Court Filings, Hallucinations & Sanctions

Fifth Circuit vacates a preliminary injunction and orders reassignment after the district court's orders contained AI-hallucinated facts and a nonexistent case.

Jackson Fed'n of Teachers v. Fitch, No. 25-60496, Doc. 111-1 (5th Cir. Oct. 22, 2026)

5th Cir.•October 22, 2026

The district court's temporary restraining order against Mississippi's anti-DEI statute, H.B. 1193, named plaintiffs and defendants who were never parties, relied on declarations from individuals who “may not even exist,” and misquoted the statute.

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Florida appellate court denies a writ petition and issues a show-cause order over counsel's “AI slop” and AI-driven “issue churning,” which “ha[d] nothing to do with hallucinated law or false legal citations.”

Lisandrillo v. Palozzi, ___ So. 3d ___, No. 4D2026-2262 (Fla. 4th DCA Sept. 16, 2026)

Fla. 4th DCA•September 16, 2026

In a dissolution case, counsel filed a 61-page emergency petition, a 33-page disqualification motion, and other lengthy filings the court described as “AI slop” containing “gibberish” and “convoluted, false, and frivolous arguments.”

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Attorneys' Fees

In a dispute over attorneys' fees, the Tenth Circuit rejects the argument that opposing counsel's hours should have been lower because they used AI tools.

Flux Drive Inc. v. Rong, Nos. 25-1308, 26-1013 & 26-1292, Doc. 82-1 (10th Cir. Oct. 30, 2026)

10th Cir.•October 30, 2026

Plaintiffs challenged the reasonableness of an award of attorneys' fees and argued, among other things, that defense counsel's use of AI resulted in excessive billing.

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AI Use as Evidence

Virginia Court of Appeals relies on a defendant's Snapchat chatbot messages as evidence of premeditation in affirming a murder conviction.

Robertson v. Commonwealth, No. 1674-25-3 (Va. Ct. App. Sept. 22, 2026) (unpublished)

Va. Ct. App.•September 22, 2026

Hours before a fatal shooting, the defendant messaged Snapchat's AI chatbot that he was “about to fight,” called it “just business,” and asked, “What if I shot them if they step on my property with hostile intent[?]” The chatbot said it could not condone violence and that deadly force to protect property is generally not legal, and asked the defendant if there was anything he wanted to talk about, to which he replied, “No, I'm just waiting.”

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Substantive AI Litigation

Third Circuit holds that copying Westlaw headnotes to train an AI legal-research tool is not fair use.

Thomson Reuters Enter. Ctr. GmbH v. ROSS Intelligence Inc., No. 25-2153, Doc. 214 (3d Cir. Sept. 30, 2026)

3d Cir.•September 30, 2026

Defendant ROSS used about 25,000 Westlaw headnotes, through training memos prepared by a contractor, to train an AI legal-research platform meant to compete with Westlaw. The Third Circuit held that the 2,243 headnotes at issue were original and that ROSS's use was not fair.

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