Feb 10 (Reuters) - Lawyers representing plaintiffs in a

lawsuit against Walmart ( WMT ) over alleged injuries from a

defective hoverboard toy said on Monday that they inadvertently

included made-up cases generated by artificial intelligence in

a court filing.

A federal judge in Wyoming on Thursday had asked the

plaintiffs' attorneys to explain why they should not be

sanctioned, after lawyers for Walmart ( WMT ) and co-defendant Jetson

Electric Bikes told the court that they could not find nine

cases that the plaintiffs had cited in a court document and

suggested AI played a role.

The case, involving lawyers from national plaintiffs' law

firm Morgan & Morgan, is the latest in which AI-generated case

citations have proven prone to error, testing lawyers and

judges' ability to sort legitimate legal research from fiction.

The plaintiffs' lawyers - Rudwin Ayala and T. Michael Morgan

firm Morgan & Morgan, and Taly Goody from three-lawyer Goody Law

Group - withdrew the filing that contained the nine cases on

Friday.

In their filing on Monday to U.S. District Judge Kelly

Rankin, they said the cases cited "were not legitimate" and that

an internal AI platform "hallucinated" the cases.

"This matter comes with great embarrassment and has prompted

discussion and action regarding the training, implementation,

and future use of artificial intelligence within our firm," the

lawyers said in the filing submitted by Morgan.

The three lawyers did not immediately respond to requests

for comment.

A lawyer representing Walmart ( WMT ) and Jetson declined to

comment. Walmart ( WMT ) declined to comment.

Judges across the country have weighed and in some cases

imposed sanctions on lawyers for including AI-generated

citations in court documents.

While some judges and courts have issued orders governing

how attorneys can use AI tools, use of the technology is

generally permitted. Groups including the American Bar

Association have said lawyers much consider their ethical

obligations to verify information in court submissions.

The underlying case in Wyoming was filed in July 2023 by two

parents on behalf of themselves and their children, claiming

they suffered burns and emotional distress after a hoverboard

made by Jetson and sold by Walmart ( WMT ) exploded and burned down

their house.

Walmart ( WMT ) and Jetson have denied the allegations and argued

the fire originated in a "smoking shed" outside of the house.