John G. Browning

Congratulations to my @FaulknerLaw colleague Prof. Will Breland for his article “ Heirs’ Property: An Alabama Attorney’s Primer” in the Winter 2026 issue of The Alabama Lawyer ( alabar.org)! Invaluable & practical advice for ‘Bama lawyers!

@JudgeMinor Having been to the Rattlesnake Roundup & Rodeo in Sweetwater, Texas, I concur! However, I came back not with a photo, but a snakeskin band for my cowboy hat.

Remembering the campaign trail from first statewide election in 2018. There are some unwritten requirements for statewide office. One is having photo with the star of the Opp Rattlesnake Rodeo. #appellatetwitter #ruleoflaw #imcrazy

@AnthonyMKreis Very nice! Congratulations!

Very pleased that I will be returning to the University of Warsaw this year to teach constitutional law. This time, with more perfected Polish skills.

In honor of International Women’s Month, check out my article “ Alabama’s Female Legal Trailblazers: Virginia Henry Mayfield and Maud McLure Kelly”, in the Winter 2026 issue of the Alabama Lawyer( alabar.org). Mayfield was Alabama’s 1st female judge; Kelly -1st lawyr

@Profleoyu @AnthonyMKreis Agree 100% with @Profleoyu. My law school has only modest budgeting for any RA support, and I’ve always done my own research anyway, right down to Bluebooking my articles. And write? Please! Profs write because they are the subject matter experts, not their law students.

@AnthonyMKreis People actually think RAs write law review articles. The truth is, not only they don’t, most law professors don’t an even have budget to hire one.

My RAs do not write for me.

@andersonforAL I couldn’t agree more, Judge. This is why I try, through writing and CLE presentations, to educate lawyers and judges about the ethical dimensions of technology use. What happened during that oral argument is but one of nearly 1,000 such cases in the U.S.!

One reason we have appellate courts is to guard against situations where attorneys - for the state or otherwise - either misuse technology or misstate the law, leading the trial court astray. Trial judges do a vital job, but do not always have the time/resources to detect this.

@RobertFreundLaw @lawprofblawg This is a good candidate for my rogues gallery - thank you!

More lawyers in trouble for AI misuse today: Attorney represented a criminal defendant and filed an application to reopen an appeal. The application alleged prosecutorial misconduct and cited quotes attributed to the prosecutor. Only problem was the quotes were completely made up. "The page Appellant cites to on page 4 for the 'legally inflammatory' statement by the prosecutor- is, in fact, the court reporter’s signature page, with no statements of any type by the prosecutor." The fake quotes came from ChatGPT. A paralegal uploaded case materials to ChatGPT and pasted the output into the application. The lawyer didn't catch it. But it gets worse: after the application was denied, the lawyer appealed the denial to the Ohio Supreme Court anyway. And when he submitted his firms "AI Policy" to show he was taking corrective action, the court determined that the policy itself was AI-generated and was incomplete. "The proffering of an AI-generated AI policy as a remedial measure in a case involving the submission of AI-generated fabrications to this court is, at best, ironic." And two months after the sanctions hearing in this case, the attorney did it again, in another case. He submitted a filing with the ChatGPT prompt embedded in the filing itself: "Would you like me to draft the next argument section (e.g., argument 1 – B on the 'nature of the charge' omission) in the same tone and format so your brief reads as a seamless multi-print memorandum?" Sanctions: -$2,000 fine -Referral to Ohio Office of Disciplinary Counsel -Must serve copy of judgment on judge of every court in which he makes an appearance, for 2 years -Must include certification that all cases are real and verified, for 2 years -6 hours mandatory CLE about AI ethics -Must write apology letters to prosecutor, trial judge, trial defense counsel, and prior appellate counsel who were defamed by fake quotes.

@PrawfBainbridge @ass_deans Josh Blackman and I were on a panel some years ago at SMU Law for a FedSoc event that posed the question “ Why the lack of conservatives on law faculties?” A member of the faculty openly said “ Because Republicans aren’t smart enough to be law professors.”

@ass_deans I remember when a prior dean used to show people around the law school and would point to me saying “and this is our token Neanderthal.”

Remember how we used to tell you you weren’t a DEI hire? We were lying and now DEI is dead. You can fill in the rest, right?

@RobertFreundLaw Anytime this week would be ideal ( my law school is on spring break, which means I’m working on prep for upcoming conferences in April and May). I’m hoping to finish putting a “ Letterman-esque” rogues gallery over the weekend and send my PowerPoint off next week. Thanks!

@therealjohnbrow Sure, happy to suggest a few. When do you need them by?

@RobertFreundLaw Rob, I’m hoping I can ask a favor. I’m putting together a CLE on AI misuse, and hope to include a “ 10 Most Egregious” list of offenders. Some come readily to mind ( like the lawyer who had AI write his apology to the court), but could you suggest a few? Thanks!

@PrawfBainbridge @lsolum Steve, Texas has no state personal income tax ( yay), but from having lived there for many years I can tell you the property taxes aren’t great. But congrats to Texas A&M for landing such an outstanding scholar in @lsolum and adding to an already stellar faculty!

Congrats to @lsolum on his move to Texas A&M. Although I'm sad that my alma mater is losing a great scholar. But if I can convince Helen we need to move to a low tax state, maybe I'll follow him to Texas when I retire.

@RobertFreundLaw No, just…no. We already have human judges incorporating hallucinated content.

What could go wrong?!?!?!?

@PrawfBainbridge @ProfessorGriggs This is going in my next PR class for sure!

A STANFORD law professor no less.

@RobertFreundLaw This is what I call a race to the bottom… or perhaps opposing counsel decided, “ if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

Lawyers on both sides cite non-existent cases, court admonishes both but sanctions neither. "Perhaps due to the asynchronous Thelma and Louise, neither side requests sanctions."

This St. Patrick’s Day, my thoughts don’t turn to shamrocks & green beer. Instead, I think of my Irish ancestors who left their famine-ravaged homeland for the chance of a better life in America. There, they toiled and bled for the opportunities that my family & I enjoy today.

Honored to be quoted in the lead article in today’s @BloombergLaw, “ Data Center Rush Poses Conflicts for Law Firms with Energy Ties” discussing conflicts of interest and duty of loyalty issues. Always great to represent @FaulknerLaw in the national legal media!

Great article by the extraordinary @JudgeDillard, “ Democratizing the Judiciary: Why Judges Should Engage ‘ We the People’ Through Social Media Platforms” at journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/appellate/arti… Well written & impeccably researched, and I’m honored that it cites multiple works of mine!

@RobertFreundLaw Couldn’t agree more!

The lawyers misusing AI like this are the ones who deserve to be replaced by it.

@JudgeDillard Thank you!

@therealjohnbrow The link broke, so here’s the new one. journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/appellate/arti…

My article in the Winter 2026 Issue of The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process—“Democratizing the Judiciary: Why Judges Should Engage ‘We the People’ Through Social-Media Platforms”—is now available at this link. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. journals.librarypublishing.arizona.edu/appellate/arti…