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Suspended lawyer accused of citing hallucinated…
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Suspended lawyer accused of citing hallucinated case in bid to reinstate regulation license
By Debra Cassens Weiss
September 12, 2025, 9:27 am CDT
The nationwide flag flies in entrance of the Iowa Supreme Court docket constructing in June 2024 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Picture by Scott McFetridge/The Related press)
A suspended Iowa lawyer cited at the very least one hallucinated case probably generated by synthetic intelligence in his bid to return to regulation apply, in line with a movement filed by the Iowa Supreme Court docket Lawyer Disciplinary Board.
Court docket filings by suspended Des Moines lawyer Royce David Turner embrace “what seems to be at the very least one AI-generated quotation to a case that doesn’t exist or doesn’t stand for the proposition asserted within the filings,” the board says in a July 9 movement.
Turner cited the “imaginary case” In re Mears in a July 5 temporary supporting his utility for reinstatement and in two different courtroom filings, in line with movement to strike the three filings.
The Iowa Capital Dispatch has a report on Turner’s disciplinary case.
The Iowa Supreme Court docket suspended Turner in 2018 and conditioned reinstatement on Turner offering an analysis by a licensed psychological well being skilled on his health to apply regulation in addition to proof that he paid almost $8,000 in consumer refunds, fines and courtroom prices.
The state supreme courtroom stated he violated disciplinary guidelines by neglect, belief account violations and failure to supply competent illustration in chapter proceedings.
Over a span of 20 months, the state supreme courtroom stated, Turner “was repeatedly rebuked by state and federal judges for lacking hearings and violating courtroom guidelines. He was present in contempt a number of instances. Three of his shoppers had been arrested and two had been jailed for lacking hearings he ignored.”
The supreme courtroom stated Turner acquired a number of warnings from Iowa judges and the federal chapter courtroom by orders to indicate trigger, sanctions and rulings discovering him in contempt. He was additionally subjected to an audit of his consumer belief account. “Turner disregarded many wake-up calls to scrub up his act,” the courtroom stated.
The courtroom famous mitigating elements, together with that Turner suffers from consideration deficit hyperactivity dysfunction and despair. He additionally took enterprise courses and restricted his caseload to eight shoppers after an interim suspension with none new complaints.
However the lawyer disciplinary board has opposed Turner’s a number of requests for reinstatement filed since 2022, in line with the Iowa Capital Dispatch. Apart from citing a pretend case, the board stated, Turner has not supplied enough proof from a psychological well being skilled on his health to apply regulation.
The Iowa Supreme Court docket canceled a reinstatement listening to scheduled for July, saying that Turner had not established “convincing proof” of health to apply nor proof of cost to his shoppers, the Iowa Capital Dispatch stories.
The ABA Journal positioned a name to Turner on the quantity listed by the Iowa Judicial Department. A message stated his voicemail field was not arrange for messages. He didn’t remark when contacted by the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Hat tip to the Authorized Occupation Weblog.
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