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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft
@dkluft.bsky.social
830 followers 1.1K following 1.7K posts
Assistant Bar Counsel/Prosecutor, Massachusetts Office of Bar Counsel. Legal Ethics and Attorney Discipline. I post #LegalEthics tidbits & pictures of my cat. Account unrelated to my employer. https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkluft/ Boston/Cambridge, MA
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 19h
... to boot (e.g., claiming the Illinois man “took no steps to return my money”). The Board of professional conduct recommended a one-year suspension, with six months stayed. The respondent has appealed, arguing that the Illinois man was a jerk and that the disciplinary system is out to get her.
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 19h
... days and returned the money to the attorney. The Illinois man filed a grievance against the attorney, who promptly made things worse by filing an $80k retaliatory defamation action against him in Ohio, even though his bar complaint was absolutely privileged, and by making false allegations...
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 19h
... member), contacted the man’s wife directly and indirectly through her co-workers at the elementary school where she worked, and used pseudonymous burner accounts on LinkedIn and Facebook to send additional unwanted messages to the couple. The bank concluded its investigation in a few... (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 19h
... instructed not to attempt to return the funds while the fraud department investigated. This wasn’t good enough for the attorney, who sent nasty emails threatening legal action, sent disparaging messages to the man’s coworkers and to the Special Olympics (where the man was a board ... (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 19h
#LegalEthics Tidbit: How can I turn an innocent Zelle transfer error into a one-year suspension?

An OH attorney inadvertently Zelle-transferred $550 to a man in Illinois who had the same name as attorney’s husband. The Illinois man contacted his bank & was ... (cont.)
lnkd.in/eMr2FC49
#lawsky #law
Image by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels. Woman checking phone in restaurant.
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 1d
... twice threatening to report the assault to police if they didn’t settle. In fact, the attorney knew his client had already reported it to the police. Admonition for violating rule 3.4(g) (threat of report to criminal authorities to obtain advantage in civil matter) & 8.4(c) (deceptive conduct).
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 1d
#LegalEthics Tidbit: Is it OK to threaten to report the opposing party to the police if I’ve already reported them?

A NJ attorney was representing a client in a civil matter stemming from an assault by an acquaintance. The attorney wrote to opposing counsel ...(cont.)

lnkd.in/e4mNcBey
#lawsky #law
Doctor Who-style police box on UK street, Image by Nick Fewings via Unsplash
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 1d
... The Court sanctioned defense counsel with yet-to-be determined attorneys’ fees and ordered that the plaintiff’s counsel make a report to the NY and NJ disciplinary authorities.
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 1d
... that it was “a minimal matter relative to the other time-sensitive tasks on which he and his recently hired staff were working at the time.” The plaintiff claimed the defendant submitted even more fake citations in opposition to the plaintiff’s motions for attorneys’ fees. ... (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 1d
... “contain[ed] another wave of fake citations and quotations,” more than double the number in the original. Defense counsel sought to deflect this issue by making the worst argument possible, which was to tell the court that the sanctions motion was not that important, specifically ... (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 1d
... held that the “use of fake citations and quotations that may generally support ‘real’ statements of law is no less frivolous.” In its opposition to sanctions, the defendant also assured the court that it would not happen again. However, the opposition providing that assurance .. (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 1d
... that appeared to have been hallucinated by #ArtificialIntelligence. The plaintiff brought the issue to the attention of the court, and the defendant in response told everyone not to worry about it because they were just “innocuous paraphrases of accurate legal principles.” The Court ... (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 1d
#LegalEthics Tidbit: If I use #AI hallucinated citations, but they support real statements of law, is that less frivolous?

In an opposition to summary judgment in a NY civil matter, the defendant included several inaccurate citations and case quotations ... (cont.)

lnkd.in/e4dNENSK
#lawsky #law
Image of man looking questioningly at camera. Image by Ludovic Migneault via Unsplash
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 2d
... child should have their mental health publicly discussed.

A SC opinion recently came out the other way, but that was because the documentary was about boating, not about the legal system. lnkd.in/eVVGpkzx
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 2d
... casting doubt on the judge’s impartiality as a finder of fact. The Committee also prohibited the documentary crew from filming child custody proceedings, even with the parties’ consent, because any consent given would be meaningless if encouraged by the judge, and because no ... (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 2d
... would be used to promote the film, participation would run afoul of the prohibition against lending the prestige of the office to private economic interests. The Committee was also concerned that the judge’s comments may appear to commit the judge to a particular position, ... (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 2d
... was asked if the judge could appear int the film, commenting about trends in high conflict cases and the impact on families, but not discussing specific cases. The Committee opined that, because the film was a potentially for-profit production, and the judge’s participation likely ... (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 2d
#LegalEthics Tidbit: Can my family court judge appear in a documentary film about family court?

A FL judge was approached by filmmaker making a documentary about the effects on children of high conflict custody cases. The Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee... (cont.)

lnkd.in/esG3gC8s
#law #lawsky
Image of man carrying camera on tripod at a formal event. Image by korso 00007 via Pexels
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 2d
... whom she appears, and a referral to the Washington State bar.
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 2d
... process was not followed, and in any case Rule 11 duties ware not delegable. The sanctions included the revocation of pro hac vice admission, striking the brief, apologies to the judges to whom the fictitious cases were attributed, notification to the client and every judge before ... (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 2d
... contract attorney, warning the attorney about the use of #artificialintelligence, having a supervising attorney check the cites, and then herself personally reviewing the brief. The Court observed that because the majority of the citations were hallucinated, it was apparent that the ... (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 2d
... artificial intelligence.” The attorney asked the court not to sanction her because she had instituted her own internal process to prevent citation errors and relied on other attorneys who drafted the brief to follow that process. The process included assigning the brief to a ... (cont.)
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 2d
#LegalEthics Tidbit: Can I rely on contract attorneys not to misuse #AI when they write my briefs?

A WA attorney admitted pro hac vice in AZ filed a brief containing bad citations with all “the markings of hallucinated case[s] created by generative ... (cont.)

lnkd.in/ejWf5Yvs
#lawsky #law
Caption and Front page of opinion, which is available through the link
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 3d
The squirrels I have been feeding from my home office brought their baby over today to learn where the hazelnuts come from and to do some grooming. #squirrels #squirrel
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dkluft.bsky.social
David Kluft @dkluft.bsky.social · 3d
... why the Senator thinks this issue is best handled NOT by reporting it through the established judicial discipline process, but by splashing his own name on a press release & sending it to the media.
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