From Monday's decision in Shahid v. Esaam, by Judge Jeffrey Watkins (Ga. Ct. App.), joined by Judges Anne Barnes and Trenton Brown; note that the trial court's order was apparently a proposed order prepared by a lawyer (in many state courts, it's common for judges to rely on lawyers to prepare such orders):
After the trial court entered a final judgment and decree of divorce, Nimat Shahid ("Wife") filed a petition to reopen the case and set aside the final judgment, arguing that service by publication was improper. The trial court denied the motion, using an order that relied upon non-existent case law. For the reasons discussed below, we vacate the order and remand for the trial court to hold a new hearing on Wife's petition. We also levy a frivolous motion penalty against Diana Lynch, the attorney for Appellee Sufyan Esaam ("Husband")….
Wife points out in her brief that the trial court relied on two fictitious cases in its order denying her petition, and she argues that the order is therefore, "void on its face." … In his Appellee's Brief, Husband does not respond to Wife's assertion that the trial court's order relied on bogus case law. Husband's attorney, Diana Lynch, relies on four cases in this division, two of which appear to be fictitious, possibly "hallucinations" made up by generative-artificial intelligence ("AI"), and the other two have nothing to do with the proposition stated in the Brief.
Undeterred by Wife's argument that the order (which appears to have been prepared by Husband's attorney, Diana Lynch) is "void on its face" because it relies on two non-existent cases, Husband cites to 11 additional cites in response that are either hallucinated or have nothing to do with the propositions for which they are cited. Appellee's Brief further adds insult to injury by requesting "Attorney's Fees on Appeal" and supports this "request" with one of the new hallucinated cases.
We are troubled by the citation of bogus cases in the trial court's order. As the reviewing court, we make no findings of fact as to how this impropriety occurred, observing only that the order purports to have been prepared by Husband's attorney, Diana Lynch. We further note that Lynch had cited the two fictitious cases that made it into the trial court's order in Husband's response to the petition to reopen, and she cited additional fake cases both in that Response and in the Appellee's Brief filed in this Court….
