On May 29, 2026, the Florida Supreme Court issued an order amending Rule 2.515(d)(2) of the Florida Rules of General Practice and Judicial Administration to impose a statewide certification obligation on attorneys and self-represented litigants who submit court filings. Effective June 15, 2026, every filer must certify that the legal authorities cited in a filing in fact exist and are accurately cited. The amendment marks a significant procedural development for Florida litigation practice, particularly for parties and counsel who incorporate generative artificial intelligence tools into legal research or drafting workflows.
The amended rule arrives against the backdrop of a growing number of incidents in which filings have been found to contain fabricated case citations, misattributed holdings, or quotations that do not appear in the cited authority. To address this, the Florida Supreme Court has authorized a broad range of sanctions for violations of the new certification requirement. Available sanctions include reprimand, contempt, striking of the offending filing, dismissal of the action, and the imposition of costs and attorneys' fees. The breadth of these remedies signals that the Court intends the certification to function as a meaningful gatekeeping mechanism rather than a formality.
Equally important, the amendment establishes a single, uniform compliance standard that supersedes the patchwork of circuit-level AI disclosure orders that had previously developed across Florida's trial courts. Under the prior framework, practitioners faced varying disclosure obligations depending on the forum, creating uncertainty and inconsistent expectations for litigants appearing in multiple jurisdictions. By centralizing the standard at the state level, the Court has streamlined the obligations applicable to all filers in Florida courts.
For law firms and self-represented litigants alike, the new rule underscores the importance of disciplined verification protocols. Citations generated or summarized with the assistance of AI tools should be independently confirmed against authoritative legal sources before any filing is submitted. Internal workflows, supervisory review practices, and document certification procedures may warrant updating to ensure compliance prior to the June 15, 2026 effective date.
This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Clients with questions about how the amended rule may affect their matters should seek tailored guidance from qualified counsel.