Plagiarism Accusations Threaten To Upend Democrats' Climate Lawsuit Against Oil Companies
Judge says 'copycat filings' represent 'astonishing example of plagiarism in the legal profession'
April 16, 2025
A federal judge in Puerto Rico issued a scathing order last week accusing Democratic prosecutors on the island of plagiarizing nearly their entire 241-page complaint that blamed oil companies for causing global warming.
In the order Wednesday, district court judge Aida Delgado-Colon outlined how David Efron, the lead attorney representing Puerto Rico's capital city San Juan, appears to have plagiarized a similar but separate complaint that 16 Puerto Rican municipalities filed a year earlier. A side-by-side comparison of the two complaints shows large blocks of text are copied word-for-word.
Delgado-Colon wrote that the situation should serve as a cautionary tale for all members of the bar, characterizing San Juan's complaint and subsequent briefs as "copycat filings" and stating that the case presents an "astonishing example of plagiarism in the legal profession." She added that a monetary sanction charging Efron would be insufficient to address the seriousness of the circumstances and said a separate order is needed to properly address it.
https://freebeacon.com/energy/plagiarism-accusations-threaten-to-upend-democrats-climate-lawsuit-against-oil-companies/
