The tribunal cited repeated failure to verify AI-assisted submissions
A lawyer on the UK register of foreign lawyers has been struck off after using artificial intelligence-generated false citations while defending disciplinary proceedings before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT), the Law Society Gazette reported.
Abishek Kumar faced disciplinary proceedings following his criminal conviction for knowingly employing an immigrant who was not permitted to work in the UK. During those proceedings, he submitted a response to the regulatory charges containing AI-generated false citations. The tribunal said either allegation would have warranted striking him off the register of foreign lawyers.
Kumar, 41, was convicted in 2024 of knowingly employing someone disqualified from working in the UK. The employee had overstayed in the UK since 2013 and had withdrawn an asylum claim in 2019 but was paid cash-in-hand for administrative work.
Kumar received a 12-month community order requiring 150 hours of unpaid work. The sentencing judge said he had sought to undermine UK immigration laws.
When disciplinary proceedings began, Kumar filed an answer to the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s allegations in March. His response contained misleading quotations and citations generated using AI.
The citations included a case from a different year, an intellectual property case and an unsuccessful SRA appeal in the High Court that was completely irrelevant.
After the SRA identified the errors and referred Kumar to a previous High Court ruling involving AI-generated citations, Kumar admitted using AI to help draft his response. He then provided another set of citations and explanations for their relevance, but the tribunal said these were again of limited use.
Kumar later admitted he had also used AI to draft an email explaining his original response. The email contained further mistakes and erroneous citations. He apologized for the errors.
Kumar told the tribunal he had never intended to be dishonest. He said he was accustomed to supervision and unaware of the issue of false case citations in the legal sector. Dishonesty was not alleged, but the tribunal did not otherwise accept his submissions.
“The repeated disregard for verifying submissions to the regulator and to the tribunal had serious implications for the administration of justice and public confidence in the legal system,” the tribunal said. “It was paramount that the reputation of the profession be protected.”
Kumar opposed being struck off, citing health and personal issues and his role as his family’s principal financial provider. The SRA submitted that the misuse of AI had serious implications for the administration of justice and public confidence. Ultimately, the tribunal struck Kumar off the register of foreign lawyers.
