In a letter to Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn, Sullivan & Cromwell partner Andrew G. Dietderich said the firm's motion for ex parte and provisional relief included fabricated or incorrect citations, misquoted authorities and other mistakes set out in an attached schedule. He added that the firm re-reviewed all filings in the matter and did not find any other errors it believes to be AI-related, though it did find some nonsubstantive or clerical errors in other filings.
The letter says that Boies Schiller Flexner LLP brought the matter to Sullivan & Cromwell's attention. Boies Schiller is representing some of the objecting debtors in the case.
Sullivan & Cromwell, which is representing the joint provisional liquidators in the case, said it would file a corrected version of the motion and a redline later that day, and Dietderich stated that he took responsibility for missing the errors in the submissions. The firm is also weighing whether it needs to enhance its internal training and review processes.
"Access to AI tools is conditioned on completion of mandatory training," Dietderich explained in his letter. "Before any firm lawyer is granted access to generative AI tools, the lawyer must complete two required training modules, completion of which is tracked and verified. The training repeatedly emphasizes the risk of AI 'hallucinations,' including the fabrication of case citations, misinterpretation of authorities, and inaccurate quotations. It instructs lawyers to 'trust nothing and verify everything' and makes clear that failure to independently verify AI-generated output constitutes a violation of firm policy."
Sullivan & Cromwell did not immediately respond to Law360's request for comment.
Sullivan is the latest of many firms to get caught up in citation errors in filings due to the use of generative AI, which can sometimes "hallucinate" fake case law. While solo practitioners and small firms are often the ones affected by this, the issue has reached Big Law, as well. Earlier this year, for instance, attorneys from Boies Schiller and Just Food Law PLLC representing customers in a proposed class action against Amazon apologized for the presence of hallucinated content in one of its filings, telling a Washington federal judge that the issue resulted from a Just Food Law attorney using generative AI and co-counsel from Boies Schiller failing to catch the error.
The Joint Provisional Liquidators are represented by Andrew G. Dietderich, Sharon Cohen Levin, Christopher J. Dunne, Jacob M. Croke and Alexa J. Kranzley of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP.
Objecting debtors Amber Hill Ventures Limited and Lateral Bridge Global Limited are represented by Jeremy O. Bressman and Martine B. Forneret of Kobre & Kim LLP.
Objecting debtors Prince Global Holdings Limited, Auspicious Tycoon Limited, Bright Team Global Limited, Delightful Thrive Limited, Even Sincerity Limited, Fulam Investment Limited, Giant Victory Holdings Limited, Golden Ascend International Limited, Harmonic State Limited, Luminous Glow Limited, Mighty Divine Limited, Noble Title Limited, Oriental Charm Holdings Investment Limited, Pacific Charm Holdings Investment Limited, Praise Marble Limited, Prince Global Group Limited, Respectful Steed Limited, Retain Prosper Limited, Simply Advanced Limited, Southern Heritage Limited, Star Merit Global Limited, Starry Bloom Limited, Sure Tycoon Limited, Towards Sunshine Limited and United Riches Global Limited are represented by Gordon Z. Novod, Matthew L. Schwartz and Peter M. Skinner of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP.
The case is In re Prince Global Holdings Limited et al., case number 26-1076, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
–Additional reporting by Emily Sawicki. Editing by Amy French.
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