So as should be obvious costs awarded personally against a lawyer are very rare, and for good reason. They are usually reserved for when a Lawyer has acted in a way personally that misleads the court, or otherwise abuses process. That is what the Court found in this case.
Long and short the Lawyer for an applicant proposed to use two pieces of caselaw, the respondents legal team advised they couldn't find the cases and asked for copies, it was only then the Ms. Ke noticed that they did not exist, apologized to the Court and withdrew those two cases. End result costs to be assessed ordered against Counsel personally, and a stern warning from the court about using AI to do your research.
"[46] As this case has unfortunately made clear, generative AI is still no substitute for the professional expertise that the justice system requires of lawyers. Competence in the selection and use of any technology tools, including those powered by AI, is critical. The integrity of the justice system requires no less."
the full decision is cited as Kang v Chen 2024 BCSC 285 and can be found at https://canlii.ca/t/k314g
*Nothing in this blog should be construed as legal advice, this is informational in nature only.
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