I'm numb to it after many "EU fines Householdnamecorp a zillion doubloons" type headlines, but using "historic fine" to describe $10k to a lawyer feels odd.
> The fine appears to be the largest issued over AI fabrications by a California court
This is a bit like all the stats like "this is appears to be an unprecedented majority in the last 10 years in a Vermont county starting with G for elections held on the 4th when no candidate is from Oklahoma".
Lots of things are historic but that doesn't necessarily mean they're impressive overall. More interesting is how many of these cases have already been tried such that this isn't "historic" for being the first one decided.
expecting the same level of fine to an individual person as opposed to a faceless corp really shows how numb you must be. for an attorney to be fined that much is not normal. TFA even shows example of higher fines issued to law firms, while still not as high as your zillion doubloons hyberbole it still shows the distinction between individual and s/corporation/law firm/. EU fines have been progressively getting higher especially for repeat offenders. it would be unwise to expect different in legal matters
His website makes him look like the owner of a law firm, although I think it's just him? I'm not expecting the same number, but... california issues bigger fines for watering lawns or buying illegal fireworks. For a lawyer, a fine order of magnitude smaller than "hiring a paralegal" is less "historic" and more "cost of doing business, don't get caught"
California issues higher fines for littering than for abandoning an animal on the highway. It's listed right there on the highway signs as you enter the state. It stood out when I saw it for the first time.
Fines are arbitrary numbers set by some people not necessarily knowing about other fines for other offenses.
This is a bit like all the stats like "this is appears to be an unprecedented majority in the last 10 years in a Vermont county starting with G for elections held on the 4th when no candidate is from Oklahoma".
Lots of things are historic but that doesn't necessarily mean they're impressive overall. More interesting is how many of these cases have already been tried such that this isn't "historic" for being the first one decided.