Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

England and Wales High Court rebukes lawyers for non-existent AI-generated authorities; refers to BSB and SRA; contempt not pursued

Published on: 09 June 2025

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

Article summary

At the High Court, Judge Victoria Sharp rebuked Sarah Forey and Abid Hussain for submitting authorities that did not exist, having failed to verify them in two separate matters. The cases were heard together to weigh possible contempt of court proceedings against the pair, which she ultimately declined to commence. Forey, then a pupil barrister at London set 3 Bolt Court, supplied five fabricated citations which she accepts may have been drawn from AI-generated digests of Google or Safari search results. Sharp criticised Forey’s ‘worrying lack of insight’ into the wrongfulness of her behaviour. The judge also censured Hussain, a solicitor at Manchester immigration practice Primus Solicitors, who filed a witness statement citing 18 invented cases after depending on research supplied by his lay client. Hussain has apologised, yet the court said it was ‘extraordinary’ that he relied on his client for the accuracy of legal research. ‘There are serious implications for the administration of justice and public confidence in the justice system if artificial intelligence is misused,’ Judge Sharp wrote. ‘Artificial intelligence is a tool that carries with it risks as well as opportunities’...

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