MINHYE PARK, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. DAVID DENNIS KIM, Defendant-Appellee
No. 22-2057
United States Court of Appeals For the Second Circuit
January 30, 2024
August Term 2023. Submitted: December 15, 2023.
Before: PARKER, NATHAN, and MERRIAM, Circuit Judges.
Plaintiff-Appellant Minhye Park appeals from an August 25, 2022, judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Chen, L.) dismissing her action against Defendant-Appellee David Dennis Kim, pursuant to
We separately address the fact that Park‘s counsel, Attorney Jae S. Lee, has admitted to citing a non-existent state court decision in her reply brief to this Court. Counsel reports that she relied on a generative artificial intelligence tool, ChatGPT, to identify precedent that might support her arguments, and did not read or otherwise confirm the validity of the (non-existent) decision she cited. Because this conduct falls well below the basic obligations of counsel, we refer Attorney Lee to the Court‘s Grievance Panel, and further ORDER Attorney Lee to furnish a copy of this decision to her client.
JAE S. LEE, JSL Law Offices P.C., Uniondale, NY, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
ALEJANDRA R. GIL, Heidell, Pittoni, Murphy & Bach, LLP, White Plains, NY, for Defendant-Appellee.
PER CURIAM:
Plaintiff-Appellant Minhye Park appeals from the August 25, 2022, judgment of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (Chen, L.) dismissing her action against Defendant-Appellee David Dennis Kim, pursuant to
We separately address the conduct of Park‘s counsel, Attorney Jae S. Lee. Lee‘s reply brief in this case includes a citation to a non-existent case, which she admits she generated using the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT. Because citation in a brief to a non-existent case suggests conduct that falls below the basic obligations of counsel, we refer Attorney Lee to the Court‘s Grievance Panel, and further direct Attorney Lee to furnish a copy of this decision to her client, Plaintiff-Appellant Park.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
“We review a district court‘s imposition of sanctions for abuse of discretion.” Wolters Kluwer Fin. Servs., Inc. v. Scivantage, 564 F.3d 110, 113 (2d Cir. 2009); see also Agiwal v. Mid Island Mortg. Corp., 555 F.3d 298, 302 (2d Cir. 2009) (dismissal pursuant to
RULE 37 AND RULE 41(b)
Several factors may be useful in evaluating a district court‘s exercise of discretion to dismiss an action under
Rule 37 . These include: (1) the willfulness of the non-compliant party or the reason for noncompliance; (2) the efficacy of lesser sanctions; (3) the duration of the period of noncompliance, and (4) whether the non-compliant party had been warned of the consequences of . . . noncompliance.
Id. (citation and quotation marks omitted).
(1) the duration of the plaintiff‘s failure to comply with the court order, (2) whether plaintiff was on notice that failure
to comply would result in dismissal, (3) whether the defendants are likely to be prejudiced by further delay in the proceedings, (4) a balancing of the court‘s interest in managing its docket with the plaintiff‘s interest in receiving a fair chance to be heard, and (5) whether the judge has adequately considered a sanction less drastic than dismissal.
Lucas v. Miles, 84 F.3d 532, 535 (2d Cir. 1996).
DISCUSSION
Over the course of the litigation before the District Court, Park continually and willfully failed to respond to and comply with the District Court‘s discovery orders. Magistrate Judge Bloom issued numerous discovery orders and provided ample warning to Park and her counsel that timely compliance was expected. For example, at a telephonic conference on August 11, 2021, Judge Bloom granted Kim‘s motion to compel, warning Attorney Lee: “[Y]our client can be subject to sanctions, which could be as severe as dismissal of the case, if she fails to comply.” J. App‘x at 81-82.1 On November 29, 2021, Judge Bloom again warned of the consequences of non-compliance, in no uncertain terms: “Plaintiff shall have one final opportunity to comply with the Court‘s discovery Order . . . . This is a Court Order and plaintiff must comply. This is plaintiff‘s last chance.” J. App‘x at 7 (emphasis in original). In that same order, Judge Bloom set a briefing schedule for filing a motion to dismiss for non-compliance, should such a motion be necessary. Finally, having still not received the ordered discovery more than seven months after Judge Bloom‘s August 2021 order, Kim moved to dismiss based on Park‘s failure to comply with court orders and discovery obligations. See J. App‘x at 292-93.
In her report and recommendation, Judge Bloom carefully considered all of the requirements of
On appeal, Park reiterates her complaints about Kim‘s alleged discovery abuses, as well as her conclusory assertion that she in fact complied with the relevant discovery orders. As Judge Bloom and Judge Chen found, these arguments are meritless, lack foundation in the record, and completely ignore the actual orders issued by Judge Bloom. Accordingly, we conclude that Park‘s noncompliance amounted to “sustained and willful intransigence in the face of repeated and explicit warnings from the court that the refusal to comply with court orders . . . would result in the dismissal of [the] action.” Valentine v. Museum of Mod. Art, 29 F.3d 47, 50 (2d Cir. 1994). As such, we affirm the judgment of the District Court.
PLAINTIFF‘S IMPROPER BRIEFING BEFORE THIS COURT
We must also address a separate matter concerning the conduct of Park‘s counsel, Attorney Lee. Park‘s reply brief in this appeal was initially due May 26, 2023. After seeking and receiving two extensions of time, Attorney Lee filed a defective
The reply brief cited only two court decisions. We were unable to locate the one cited as ”Matter of Bourguignon v. Coordinated Behavioral Health Servs., Inc., 114 A.D.3d 947 (3d Dep‘t 2014).” Appellant‘s Reply Br. at 6. Accordingly, on November 20, 2023, we ordered Park to submit a copy of that decision to the Court by November 27, 2023. On November 29, 2023, Attorney Lee filed a Response with the Court explaining that she was “unable to furnish a copy of the decision.” Response to November 20, 2023, Order of the Court, at 1, Park v. Kim, No. 22-2057-cv (2d Cir. Nov. 29, 2023), ECF No. 172 (hereinafter, “Response“). Although Attorney Lee did not expressly indicate as much in her Response, the reason she could not provide a copy of the case is that it does not exist – and indeed, Attorney Lee refers to the case at one point as “this non-existent case.” Id. at 2.
Attorney Lee‘s Response states:
I encountered difficulties in locating a relevant case to establish a minimum wage for an injured worker lacking prior year income records for compensation determination . . . . Believing that applying the minimum wage to in injured worker in such circumstances under workers’ compensation law was uncontroversial, I invested considerable time searching for a case to support this position but was unsuccessful. . . . Consequently, I utilized the ChatGPT service, to which I am a subscribed and paying member, for assistance in case identification. ChatGPT was previously provided reliable information, such as locating sources for finding an antic furniture key. The case mentioned above was suggested by ChatGPT, I wish to clarify that I did not cite any specific reasoning or decision from this case.
Id. at 1-2 (sic).
All counsel that appear before this Court are bound to exercise professional judgment and responsibility, and to comply with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Among other obligations,
At the very least, the duties imposed by
Attorney Lee states that “it is important to recognize that ChatGPT represents a significant technological advancement,” and argues that “[i]t would be prudent for the court to advise legal professionals to exercise caution when utilizing this new technology.” Response at 2. Indeed, several courts have recently proposed or enacted local rules or orders specifically addressing the use of artificial intelligence tools before the court.3 But such a rule is not necessary to
inform a licensed attorney, who is a member of the bar of this Court, that she must ensure that her submissions to the Court are accurate.
Attorney Lee‘s submission of a brief relying on non-existent authority reveals that she failed to determine that the argument she made was “legally tenable.” Cooter & Gell, 496 U.S. at 393. The brief presents a false statement of law to this Court, and it appears that Attorney Lee made no inquiry, much less the reasonable inquiry required by
We further ORDER Attorney Lee to provide a copy of this ruling to Plaintiff-Appellant Park – translated into Korean if necessary to permit Park to understand it – within twenty-one days, and to file a certification on the docket in this case attesting that she has done so.