Francois v. Vive Financial, LLC
The Fourth District affirmed the denial of a pro se litigant's rule 1.540(b) motion to vacate a default final judgment, reiterating that lack of standing cannot be raised for the first time in a rule 1.540 motion and that a judgment entered for a plaintiff lacking standing is voidable, not void. The court wrote separately to address the appellant's citation of multiple nonexistent authorities in both the trial court and on appeal, cautioning that fabricated case law—including that produced by generative AI—is sanctionable under Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.410(a).
Key facts
- Francois, a pro se litigant, filed a Rule 1.540(b) motion to vacate a default final judgment entered against Vive Financial, LLC, arguing for the first time on appeal that the plaintiff lacked standing.
- The trial court denied Francois's motion to vacate, and the Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed that denial.
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Why it matters
This opinion joins a rapidly growing line of Florida DCA decisions (Goya, Friend, Russell, Gutierrez) confronting AI-generated “phantom authority,” and states plainly that the duty to verify citations rests with the… — full analysis with a trial
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