David Wagner reports on business and economy for the LAist and KPCC newsroom.
LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio, a member-supported public media network. For the latest national news from NPR and our live radio broadcast, visitDennis Block runs what he says is California’s “leading eviction law firm.” A judge said legal citations submitted in Block's name for a recent case were fake. Six legal experts told LAist the errors likely stemmed from AI misuse.
“This was an entire body of law that was fabricated,” Fusselman said during the sanction hearing. “It's difficult to understand how that happened.” “I think it's virtually certain that the lawyer involved used some kind of artificial intelligence program to draft the brief,” said Russell Korobkin, aEviction court cases center on a high-stakes question: Who gets to stay in their home, and who has to leave.The outcomes for renters can be dire, in some cases leading to homelessness. It all unfolds in a court system that can move very quickly, with most tenants lacking access to an attorney.
Any time you cite a case and a holding to the court, it has to be accurate. That's your obligation. I don't care how busy you are.Based on a user’s prompt, they mine vast troves of data to predict words that should come next in a sentence. They can produce stunningly detailed documents full of words seemingly written by a human. But often those words bear no relation to the truth.
And some legal experts told us the fact that defendants often represent themselves in venues like eviction court just heightens concerns about accountability.“Someone is going to be thrown out on the street because a lawyer couldn't bother doing research on their own,” Waldman said. “If that's where our legal system is heading, we're all in trouble.”Block did not agree to an interview with LAist.
“I felt a little bit like I was completely misreading or misunderstanding what was happening,” Nicholson said in an interview. “It was one of the weirdest opposition briefs I have ever received.” In a separate court filing, Block identified the attorney responsible for preparing the filing as a first-year lawyer admitted to the bar in November 2022. LAist reached out to her for this story, but she did not agree to an interview.
The exterior of the Los Angeles Superior Court's Stanley Mosk courthouse, where many L.A. eviction cases are handled, is seen in 2004.By keeping the sanction just under $1,000, Fusselman allowed Block’s firm to avoid a requirement to report the violation to the state bar for further investigation and possible disciplinary action.
Evictions plummeted early in the pandemic after state and local governments put new COVID-19 renter protections in place. But Nelson said L.A. County eviction filings are“You have a system that's supposed to be equitable, but it's not,” said Javier Beltran, deputy director of the L.A.-based, all while attorneys and onlookers shuffle in and out of the courtroom and chat in the wings. Tenants without attorneys regularly struggle to understand what’s going on.
“I grew up in a one-bedroom apartment with my mother and my sister,” Block said. “I now employ 26 attorneys. And I have a support staff — a total staff of 45 people — that are making their contributions to the government, paying their taxes. But somehow if you're big, if you're successful, then all of a sudden you're not revered by society. You're hated by society.”
“Renters who don't comply with their lease agreements end up getting away with months of free rent, and oftentimes put owners in a position to pay out relocation fees,” Yukelson said. “In some cases, it's like extortion.” In 2011, one former landlord client alleged that after Block’s firm served his tenant a three-day notice to pay or quit, Block’s firm turned around and defended that same tenant against the eviction. According to court records, Block’s firm said they dropped the tenant after discovering the connection. The lawsuit was settled out of court.were one-star ratings as of early October 2023. About 28% were five-star reviews. We should note that not all Yelp reviews are genuine.
Tracey Adlai said she came to Block’s firm in an emotionally raw moment. Her father had just died, and her family was seeking help with evicting a tenant who refused to leave his Hollywood Hills condo.ongoing lawsuit “If this could have been wrapped up before going to a trial, it would have saved us hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Adlai said. The lawsuit claims more than $200,000 in damages, including legal fees, lost rent and other costs associated with maintaining the property while it was occupied by a non-paying tenant.
Adlai’s brother decided to drop Block’s firm and hire a different lawyer. The eviction case went to trial in September 2022. A jury decided the tenant had to leave her father’s condo. But after nearly two years of fighting, Adlai could no longer afford to move in.Other former clients told LAist that Block’s firm passed their cases from attorney to attorney, with lawyers at times coming to important court dates appearing unknowledgeable and unprepared.
“Things seemed to go south pretty quickly when the attorney could not answer the judge’s questions about simple, basic stuff,” said Frazier, who was with the couple that day in the Stanley Mosk courthouse in Downtown L.A.
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