According to The Guardian, Andrew Dietderich, co-head of Sullivan & Cromwell's global restructuring group, apologized in a letter to New York federal judge Martin Glenn on Saturday for the string of mistakes, which included inaccurate citations. The errors, uncovered by the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner (BSF), which was also working on the case, involved misquoting the US bankruptcy code and citing cases incorrectly in a filing made on 9 April. In multiple instances, Sullivan & Cromwell filed inaccurately summarized conclusions made in other cases using AI.
Sullivan & Cromwell said that it maintains comprehensive policies and training requirements governing the use of AI tools in legal work that are designed to catch any potential errors. However, the letter indicated those AI policies were not followed and that a secondary review process also did not identify the inaccurate citations generated by AI. The firm later filed a corrected version to the court.
We deeply regret that this has occurred. I apologize on behalf of our entire team. I also called BSF on Friday to thank them for bringing this matter to our attention and apologize to them directly as well.
Lawyers are not prohibited from using AI but are ethically bound to ensure the accuracy of court submissions. This incident highlights the risks associated with relying on AI-generated content in legal proceedings without proper oversight. The case involved Sullivan & Cromwell's representation of liquidators appointed by legal authorities in the British Virgin Islands who are engaged in actions against Prince Group, which is owned by the Chinese-born businessman Chen Zhi. Last year, US prosecutors charged Chen Zhi with wire fraud and money laundering, alleging that he directed Prince Group's operation of forced-labour scam compounds across Cambodia that stole billions of dollars from victims in the United States and around the world.
In a statement last year, Prince Group denied that Chen Zhi had committed wrongdoing and called the allegations baseless. Separately, US prosecutors also filed a legal action to seize nearly $9 billion of bitcoin that US authorities alleged represented the proceeds of the Prince Group's criminal activity. Chen Zhi was arrested earlier this year in Cambodia and extradited to China upon the request of Chinese authorities.