JACKSON v. AUTO OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY

District Court, M.D. Georgia·Decided July 14, 2025·No. 7:24-cv-00136·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF GEORGIA VALDOSTA DIVISION WOODROW JACKSON, : : Plaintiff, : CASE NO: v. : 7:24-cv-136–WLS : AUTO-OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY, :

: Defendant. : __________________________________________ ORDER The Court held a show cause hearing on June 3, 2025, with respect to why Plaintiff’s counsel, Brian Braddy, should not be sanctioned for citing non-existent or “hallucinated” cases to the Court and Defendant’s counsel in Plaintiff’s Response to Brief in Support of Denying Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 9) (“MTD Response”) filed April 7, 2025. I. BACKGROUND Plaintiff’s state court action for breach of contract against Defendant Auto-Owners Insurance Company (“Auto-Owners”) was removed to this Court on December 19, 2024. (See Doc. 1). On March 21, 2025, Auto-Owners refiled in this Court the motion to dismiss (Doc. 7) it had previously filed in the state court proceeding. In Plaintiff’s MTD Response, Mr. Braddy cited nine cases. In Auto-Owners’ Reply (Doc. 10), its counsel pointed out that they could not locate any of the cases/opinions cited in the MTD Response. (Id. at 2). The Court conducted its own thorough search for the cases and was also unable to locate any of the nine cases cited in the MTD Response. Therefore, by Order (Doc. 13) (“Show Cause Order”) entered May 9, 2025, the Court ordered Plaintiff’s counsel to (1) provide true and accurate copies of all cases cited in Plaintiff’s MTD Response, or (2) show cause in writing why he should not be sanctioned pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b), (c); 28 U.S.C. § 1927;1 and/or the inherent power of the Court for citing non-existent cases to the Court. The written explanation

1 28 U.S.C. § 1927 provides: “Any attorney or other person admitted to conduct cases in any court of the United States or any Territory thereof who so multiplies the proceedings in any case unreasonably and vexatiously may be required by the court to satisfy personally the excess costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees reasonably incurred because of such conduct.” was ordered to be in the “form of a sworn declaration providing a thorough explanation of how the [MTD] Response and nonexistent cases were generated.” (Doc. 13 at 3 (emphasis added)). The Court cautioned that it would not hesitate to impose Rule 11 sanctions against a party who abused the adversary process or otherwise attempted to deceive the Court by relying on nonexistent case law. Plaintiff’s Response to Order to Show Cause and Motion to Substitute Correct Legal Authorities (Doc. 14) (“Show Cause Response”) was timely filed. However, rather than following the specific instructions set forth in the Show Cause Order, Mr. Braddy stated only that the incorrect version of the MTD Response was inadvertently filed and that such version “does not reflect the authorities upon which Plaintiff now relies.” (Doc. 14 at 1). Plaintiff requested leave of Court to file a corrected version of the MTD Response.2 The Court found the Show Cause Response was deficient because it (1) was not in the form of a sworn declaration, and (2) did not provide a thorough explanation of how the MTD Response was generated as required by the Show Cause Order. (See Order Doc. 15 (“Hearing Order”)). The Court also noted that Mr. Braddy was made aware of the problem with the case citations by Auto-Owners’ counsel in the Reply filed on April 7, 2025. Yet Mr. Braddy did not attempt to correct or address the incorrect citations until a month later when he was ordered to do so by the Court’s Show Cause Order. The Court questioned whether the delay belied the inference in the Show Cause Response that Mr. Braddy had prepared and intended to file a different version of the MTD Response. As such, the Court set a hearing on the issue for June 3, 2025 (“Show Cause Hearing”). (Id.) II. SHOW CAUSE HEARING Shortly before the June 3, 2025 Show Cause Hearing, on May 29, 2025, Mr. Braddy filed a Sworn Declaration (Doc. 16) (“Declaration”) in which he more thoroughly complied with the Court’s Show Cause Order.3 For the first time, Mr. Braddy explained that the MTD

2 By separate Order (Doc. 18) entered after the June 3, 2025 hearing, the Court permitted Plaintiff to refile his MTD Response with appropriate case citations. On June 4, 2025, Plaintiff filed the corrected response (Doc. 19). 3 The Declaration provides a full explanation of what happened, and therein, Mr. Braddy takes accountability Response was generated using an artificial intelligence (“AI”) software. He further explained that the MTD Response was never intended to be filed, but was supposed to be used only as a framework for Plaintiff’s response to the motion to dismiss. Mr. Braddy acknowledged that he is fully responsible for documents filed in his cases, and he took full responsibility for the wrong document being filed in this case. (Id. at 1–2). As an indication that the MTD Response was not the document he intended to file, Mr. Braddy noted that the signature block in the MTD Response incorrectly included the signatures of Defendant’s counsel. The Braddy Declaration is consistent with Mr. Braddy’s statements to the Court during the Show Cause Hearing. In addition to reiterating the information in the Declaration at the hearing, Mr. Braddy personally apologized to the Court and Auto-Owners’ counsel for the additional time and work caused by filing the MTD Response with the hallucinated citations. As an explanation, but not an excuse, Mr. Braddy stated that his office had experienced multiple staff transitions and that he was currently the only attorney in the Georgia office. He further indicated that the MTD Response had been generated within the office. Again, acknowledging that he is fully responsible for documents filed under his name and in response to the Court’s inquiry as to how the MTD Response was inadvertently filed, Mr. Braddy indicated that a staff member had made the incorrect filing. To ensure the error does not occur again, Mr. Braddy stated that his office has taken steps to double check and cross reference sources cited in every motion and response to be filed with the Court. While Mr. Braddy believed he had discussed the incorrect signature block and the hallucinated citations with Auto-Owners’ counsel and that a corrected MTD Response had been filed, he did not realize that the corrected version had not been filed until he received the Court’s Show Cause Order. Auto-Owners’ counsel advised the Court that in their interactions with Mr. Braddy he had always been professional and courteous. While Auto-Owners’ counsel stated they had discussed the incorrect signature block with Mr. Braddy, they advised the Court that they had not discussed the hallucinated citations with him and were unaware of the problems with the citations until they reviewed the MTD Response in preparing to file a reply if necessary.

was expecting from Mr. Braddy. In fact, had Mr. Braddy initially filed the Declaration which fully complied with the Show Cause Order, it is unlikely the Court would have found that a hearing was necessary. According to Auto-Owner’s counsel, Mr. Braddy’s error resulted in their client incurring attorney fees in addressing the inaccuracies and expenses and time traveling to and attending the Show Cause Hearing. Insofar as whether and what kind of sanctions were appropriate, Auto-Owners’ counsel deferred to the Court’s discretion but requested that Auto-Owners be reimbursed for the attorney fees and expenses incurred by their client that were associated with the error. As to sanctions, Mr.

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JACKSON v. AUTO OWNERS INSURANCE COMPANY, (M.D. Ga. 2025).

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