In the Monday order, U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock disqualified Shauncey Hunter Ridgeway of Christian & Small LLP from representing a Louisiana attorney in his contract suit against the City of Aberdeen, also disqualifying Mark McClinton of McClinton Law Firm LLC from representing the municipality.
Judge Aycock's order also revoked pro hac vice status for Texas-based defense counsel Kathryn Y. Williams of Daniel Williams & Associates PLLC and Louisiana-based plaintiff's counsel Kathleen M. Wilson of Wilson Law Firm LLC. The order blocks each from appearing before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi for a period of two years, calling pro hac vice status "a privilege, not a right."
In each case, the out-of-state lawyers admitted to the unverified use of AI in drafting respective briefs, while the local lead counsel said they had not themselves reviewed the filings before signing, but told Judge Aycock they were not aware of their respective co-counsel's AI use.
"In an era of rampant unverified AI usage within the legal field, this case presents a prime example of the risk associated with serving as a rubberstamp when acting as local counsel," the judge's order stated.
The attorneys were each also ordered to pay monetary sanctions, with Mississippians Ridgeway and McClinton on the hook for $1,000 each. Williams was ordered to pay a $2,500 fine, while Wilson was hit with a $3,500 fine.
Tom Withers III, who is a licensed attorney in Louisiana, brought one breach of contract claim against the city of Aberdeen in Louisiana federal court in October 2023, alleging he was not paid for work he did unsuccessfully attempting to secure financing for a solar panel project. The case was transferred to Mississippi in December 2024.
The city was found to have defaulted on the case and Withers was awarded attorney fees in October 2025, with Aberdeen's lawyers made responsible for payment of the fees.
The court eventually set the default aside. The city of Aberdeen moved for summary judgment, which Withers opposed. The city then challenged the reasonableness of Withers' request for attorney fees.
These three filings — the summary judgment motion, opposition and challenge — all contained references to cases that the court was "unable to find," according to Judge Aycock, which attorneys later admitted was due to their AI misuse.
Wilson, a solo practitioner, told the court she had used an AI system called "first drafts" to create Withers' opposition, claiming she was "shocked" to learn the filing contained a hallucination, as she was not aware it was possible, the order stated. Wilson said she had used the program in various other cases for six months without verifying any of the AI output.
"The court finds that explanation to be insufficient and incredulous," Judge Aycock said in her sanctions order, adding she "disbelieves Wilson's claims of ignorance" and found that the lawyer worked in bad faith by not verifying the brief's citations.
Ridgeway, the local counsel who sponsored Wilson's admission, said that though she had not verified the citations in her co-counsel's filing, she herself did not use AI and her firm did not permit its use. The two discussed the contents of the brief prior to filing, Ridgeway said.
Judge Aycock said that, while the court believes local counsel are responsible for filings made under their names, "taking into account the specific circumstances of this case, it does not find that Ridgeway acted in bad faith. Her omissions were negligent and careless but not purposeful."
On the other side, Texas-based Williams explained that she had used AI-powered software her law firm had made available less than 90 days prior to the filing of the two erroneous briefs entered on behalf of the city of Aberdeen, and that the software was created for use within the firm's regional footprint and not designed specifically to be used on Mississippi cases.
On Monday, Judge Aycock said Williams' explanation included a contradiction since Mississippi is within the region covered by Williams' firm.
"In this court's view, Williams attempted to deflect from the fact that she disregarded the software's design, which she was aware of beforehand, once the court expressed its concern," Judge Aycock said. "The court finds that she was aware that the software was not designed to produce Mississippi case law and that she acted in bad faith in using it anyway."
Further, the judge found it "particularly egregious" that Williams had violated her own law firm's well-established policy through her misuse of AI, though Judge Aycock acknowledged Williams had admitted to AI misuse, accepted some responsibility and attempted to correct the errors.
The order also noted that Williams had misrepresented a scheduling conflict to the court, in what appeared to be an effort to duck in-person appearance at the show cause hearing, finding the move "certainly reflects her lack of concern for the seriousness of the underlying misconduct in this case."
As for McClinton, like his counterpart Ridgeway, the lawyer said he does not personally use AI and that he was unaware his out-of-state co-counsel had done so.
The judge ruled Withers may continue to represent himself pro se, or else select new outside counsel, giving the plaintiff two months to indicate his choice or have the case dismissed without notice.
In a statement provided to Law360 Wednesday, Christian & Small Managing Partner Greer B. Mallette declined to comment on the case, citing the Rules of Professional Conduct.
"We take our obligations to the court and to our clients seriously, and we will uphold our obligations of professional responsibility and candor to the court," Mallette said in the statement. "We will continue to educate our team about the appropriate use of artificial intelligence tools when they can benefit our clients, and the absolute requirement that our lawyers verify all information in our filings is accurate and correct."
Withers, a city of Aberdeen spokesperson and the other sanctioned attorneys did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Withers represents himself, pro se.
Counsel information for the city of Aberdeen was not immediately available.
The case is Withers v. City of Aberdeen, case number 1:24-cv-00218, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
--Editing by Alex Hubbard.
Update: This article was updated with a statement from Christian & Small's Greer B. Mallette.
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