A federal judge in Mississippi booted all lawyers from a case on Tuesday after finding that counsel on both sides had used generative AI to draft legal filings and left hallucinated sources in the legal record.
Last December, U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Mississippi Sharion Aycock informed the opposing parties in a simple contract dispute case that the court had “serious concerns that certain legal memoranda submitted in this case … contain(ing) fictitious legal authorities.”
Aycock determined that attorneys on both sides used generative AI in legal filings submitted to the court. Those filings included “hallucinations”—fabricated legal sources generated by an AI platform out of thin air.
“This case presents the Court with an unusual scenario—attorneys for both litigants engaged
in similar sanctionable conduct,” Aycock wrote in the June 8 ruling. “… Their practice of blindly relying on technology resulted in the hallucinatory citations contained in their respective filings.”
On June 8, Aycock issued her sanctions. She booted a total of four attorneys—two from each side—from the case, clearing both legal teams entirely, as well as barring two of the attorneys from appearing before Northern District of Mississippi courts for two years.
The case originated from a contractual dispute between Tom Withers III and the City of Aberdeen, in which Withers alleges the City did not pay him properly for his work as an attorney in another case. The judge has accused neither Withers nor the City of wrongdoing in this matter.
Withers was represented by Kathleen Wilson and Shauncey Hunter Ridgeway; the City of Aberdeen was represented by Mark McClinton and Kathryn Young Williams. Both Ridgeway and McClinton testified to the court that they do not use AI in their own respective practices, but failed to properly review memorandums written by Wilson and Williams before signing them—or, in McClinton’s case, before allowing Williams to sign for him.
“The Court finds that, through their own admissions, all four attorneys failed to verify the legal authorities cited in their respective filings in violation of Rule 11,” Aycock said in her June 8 sanctions order. “All attorneys are licensed and are presumably well trained in the law … they were well aware of their duties prior to committing their respective violations. Sanctions … are warranted as to them all.”
Rule 11 is part of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which dictate how civil lawsuits are handled. The rule mandates that attorneys and self-represented parties who submit paperwork to courts are certifying that they performed a reasonable inquiry to confirm that the legal claims, defenses and other information within the filing are warranted, the judge explained in her sanctions order.
Judge: No ‘Excuse to Plead Ignorance’ on AI
Judge Sharion Aycock notified the lawyers that she was aware of their AI use in a December 10, 2025, order to show cause, giving the lawyers a chance to defend their choices in a January 20 hearing.
Both legal teams filed documents correcting the hallucinated sources in their AI-laden legal filings before appearing in court.
Kathryn Young Williams admitted to using an AI tool to conduct research, and Kathleen Wilson admitted to using an AI tool to draft her legal filing. Both Mark McClinton and Shauncey Hunter Ridgeway admitted to signing legal memoranda without checking their sources.
Wilson testified that she did not know AI could hallucinate sources at the January 20, 2026, hearing intended for the four lawyers to defend themselves, Aycock said in her June 8 sanctions order.
But the judge pointed to recent rulings that dictate that pleas of innocence are no longer acceptable when it comes to the use of AI in legal filings. Aycock also noted that Wilson was sanctioned back in March in a separate case in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana after admitting she submitted filings with AI hallucinations. Those submissions came two months after Wilson apologized to Aycock’s court in the show-cause hearing.
“If it were ever an excuse to plead ignorance of the risks of using generative AI to draft a brief without verifying its output, it is certainly no longer so,” Aycock said in her June 8 order, quoting the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Robert Fletcher v. Experian Information Solutions.
A framework for sanctions regarding AI use does not yet exist within the 5th Circuit, Aycock said.
Wilson does not know what disciplinary actions will be taken against her in regards to Aycock’s sanctions order, she told the Mississippi Free Press, but she expects the Bar Associations in both Louisiana and Mississippi to review the issue.
“I think it’s fair,” Wilson said on June 9. “Of course, they have to do what they have to do.”
Judge: ‘Williams Attempted to Deflect’
Kathryn Young Williams testified that her firm began using an in-house AI software for legal research about 90 days prior to the court’s December 10, 2025, show of cause order.
While Williams originally told the court that the software was only designed to operate in Texas—where her firm is based— she later said that Mississippi was within the region for which the AI software was intended, Judge Sharion Aycock said in her June 8 order.
“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,” Aycock said in the June 8 sanctions order. “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.”
Williams’ law firm—Daniel, Williams & Associates—has an AI policy that requires lawyers to independently verify AI software output, like case citations.
“The Court finds it particularly egregious that Williams, a partner and presumably a leader in her law firm, disregarded the AI policy by blindly relying on the AI research tool,” Aycock said in her June 8 sanctions order.
Aycock also accused Williams of attempting to avoid appearing at the show-cause hearing by misrepresenting her availability. Williams previously claimed that she had another court obligation in a New Jersey case, which overlapped with Aycock’s court dates.
“The fact of the matter is Williams never had a scheduling conflict (at least in the New Jersey case) though she represented as much in her Motion…,” Aycock said in her June 8 sanctions order. “The Court is troubled by this misrepresentation and finds that Williams was not truthful about her purported scheduling conflict in violation of her ethical duties as an officer of the court. This certainly reflects her lack of concern for the seriousness of the underlying misconduct in this case despite her contentions otherwise.”
Williams was not available for comment.
Out-of-State Attorney Privileges in Question
Both Kathleen Wilson and Kathryn Young Williams were working in Mississippi as pro hac vice attorneys, meaning they are licensed to practice in other states but have been given temporary permission to practice in Mississippi for a particular case.
Judge Sharion Aycock’s sanction order called into question whether Wilson and Williams would be allowed to practice as pro hac vice attorneys in Mississippi again.
“The Court is also compelled to point out that this sanctionable conduct inevitably implicates Williams’ and Wilson’s ability to continue practicing before it,” Aycock said in her June 8 sanctions order.
Pro hac vice status is a privilege, Aycock said, and subject to the court’s discretion to revoke.
‘Negligent and Careless but not Purposeful’
While Kathleen Wilson and Kathryn Young Williams are both based out-of-state, Shauncey Ridgeway and Mark McClinton practice law primarily in Mississippi.
Ridgeway works for Christian & Small LLP at its Jackson office. She told the court that she does not use AI for her work, and that her law firm has a specific AI-related policy.
“… Ridgeway conducted a thorough analysis of all filings submitted on behalf of Withers in this case after entry of the Court’s show cause order,” Judge Sharion Aycock said in her June 8 sanctions order. “The Court appreciates her efforts in attempting to remediate the issue and her acceptance of responsibility but finds that those factors do not shield her from being sanctioned.”
Aycock does not believe Ridgeway’s mistakes were made in bad faith.
“(Ridgeway’s) omissions were negligent and careless but not purposeful,” Aycock said in her June 8 sanctions order.
McClinton’s legal practice is based in New Albany, Mississippi.
“Like Ridgeway, the Court finds that McClinton acted negligently and carelessly,” Aycock said in her June 8 sanctions order. “However, he accepted responsibility for his role in the violation and, like Ridgeway, informed the Court that he had self-reported to the Mississippi Bar following the show cause hearing. The Court credits his candor and steps taken towards holding himself accountable.”
Ridgeway also admitted that her actions likely violated the court’s local rules, in which resident attorneys paired with out-of-state clients are responsible for conduct and proceedings before the court, Aycock said in her order.
Christian & Smalls Managing Partner Greer Mallette was unable to discuss any particular case due to rules of professional conduct, he told the Mississippi Free Press, but still released a comment on the issue.
“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 told the Mississippi Free Press. “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.”
McClinton, Ridgeway, the City of Aberdeen and Tom Withers, III, were unavailable for comment.
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