Lawyer can't represent plaintiffs in morgue scandal because of past AI errors, judge says
A lawyer has been barred from appearing in a case involving a scandal at the Harvard Medical School morgue after he was sanctioned for including fake artificial intelligence citations in other court filings. (Photo from Shutterstock)
A lawyer has been barred from appearing in a case involving a scandal at the Harvard Medical School morgue after he was sanctioned for including fake artificial intelligence citations in other court filings.
Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Kenneth Salinger in Boston said Monday T. Michael Morgan, an attorney at Morgan & Morgan in Orlando, Florida, could not be admitted pro hac vice to represent the plaintiffs in litigation against Harvard over the alleged theft of body parts from donated cadavers, Reuters reports.
As part of his decision, Salinger referenced a February 2025 incident in which Morgan was sanctioned by the District of Wyoming for filing motions citing eight cases that had been hallucinated by his law firm’s AI platform. Even though Morgan’s associate drafted the motions, Salinger said Morgan was responsible because he signed the documents without reviewing them.
“Since attorney Morgan’s failure to comply with basic ethical requirements in the Wyoming litigation is so recent, and Morgan has made no showing that he has learned from his mistakes in that case, the court is not convinced that Morgan should be granted the privilege of appearing pro hac vice in the Massachusetts Superior Court,” Salinger said.
Morgan disclosed the federal sanction but failed to explain any steps that he now takes to review documents that are to be filed in court or to prevent court filings from citing nonexistent case law, Salinger also noted.
In a statement published by Reuters, a spokesperson for Morgan & Morgan said Morgan took responsibility for the error and attempted to remedy the situation. The firm spokesperson also said Morgan “instituted additional safeguards within the firm regarding use of AI.”
The case against Harvard is one of a dozen cases filed by families alleging that the university mishandled the bodies of their loved ones, Reuters also reports.
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