Diddy Accuser’s Lawyer Faces Fine Over AI Use in Court Documents

A New York judge has fined attorney Tyrone Blackburn after he admitted using artificial intelligence that produced false legal citations in filings connected to a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs.

According to Billboard, Judge Leo Gordon issued the reprimand on Tuesday, December 16, after Blackburn acknowledged that documents filed on behalf of his client, Liza Gardner, contained fabricated legal arguments generated by AI. Gardner filed the lawsuit in November 2023, accusing the Bad Boy Entertainment founder of sexual assault.

Judge Gordon noted that Blackburn failed to verify the AI-generated content before submitting it in court.

"Mr. Blackburn confirmed that he indeed used AI that provided him with hallucinated case law and propositions that he then incorporated into his response brief and that he failed to verify on subsequent review," Judge Gordon wrote. "Despite multiple forms of notice and warning, proper verification did not occur here."

The judge emphasized that relying on unverified AI material does not meet the standards of professional legal practice.

Blackburn was ordered to pay a $6,000 fine and notify bar associations in New York and New Jersey about his AI usage in the case.

This is not Blackburn’s first run-in with AI-related issues. In June, he faced potential sanctions for submitting a motion containing "non-existent quotations," also tied to artificial intelligence misuse in legal filings, according to a report from Complex.

Blackburn has been accused of similar errors in other cases. In a dispute involving rapper Fat Joe, opposing lawyers noted at least ten AI-generated mistakes in his filings.

Blackburn blamed online research tool LexisNexis, but the company denied any involvement, stating he was "never an authorized user or subscriber" of its services.

While Gardner’s case has no announced next steps, Sean Combs continues to face multiple lawsuits, some highlighted in the Netflix documentary Sean Combs: The Reckoning. Combs is currently serving a 50-month prison sentence for violating two counts of the Mann Act.