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Sanctions watch

Every incident where a lawyer got caught filing AI-fabricated citations. The Hall of Shame.

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251
Incidents tracked
81
Incidents in 2026
$1,813,310
In fines, where reported
186 of 251 report an amount

The curve

Incidents per month

Last 18 months of published incidents, by the date of the court's order.

Apr 2025 Sep 2026

Charting 139 of 251 incidents; the rest are undated or fall outside this window.

Blamed by name

ChatGPT 53 Claude 4 Lexis+ AI 4 Westlaw Precision 4 CoCounsel 3 Copilot 2 AI-assisted legal software 1 Archie 1 ChatOn 1 ClearBrief 1 CoCounsel, Westlaw Precision, Google Gem 1 Descrybe.ai 1 First Drafts 1 Gemini 1 Ghostwriter Legal 1 Google AI 1 Google Scholar 1 Grok 1 Irys 1 vLex Fastcase 1

Counts only incidents where the filing court or the reporting named the tool.

Hall of Shame

All Fined 251 Caught, not sanctioned 199 Warned 125 Referred to the bar 101 Reprimanded 86 Outcome unclear 56 Filing dismissed 37 Suspension 2 Upcoming sanction 1

Showing 101–110 of 251 incidents. Clear filters

Fined $1K
An attorney filed a pleading with AI-fabricated citations and quotations, and the court imposed a $1,000 fine plus mandatory CLE training on AI.
Kaur v. Desso · U.S. District Court in the Northern District of New York · NY
“the need to check whether the assertions and quotations generated were accurate trumps all.”
thomsonreuters.com ↗
The file →
  • Kaur v. Desso involved the plaintiff's attorney
  • The court found the attorney knew AI tools can hallucinate citations and quotations
  • The court imposed a $1,000 fine and ordered CLE training on AI
  • U.S. District Court in the Northern District of New York
  • The court said accuracy checks outweigh pressure to rush the pleading
Fined $4K
Williams was also fined and barred after submitting AI-generated filings with fake citations; the article says two local counsel were disqualified and fined too.
Kathryn Williams · Kathryn Williams · U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi · MS
medium.com ↗
The file →
  • Kathryn Williams was sanctioned in the Mississippi case.
  • She admitted using AI and submitting unverified citations.
  • The court fined her $3,500 and barred her for two years.
  • Northern District of Mississippi, federal court.
  • June 2026 article; it says she violated her firm's AI policy and misrepresented a scheduling conflict.
Fined $60K
An Illinois law firm and one of its partners were ordered to pay the opposition law firm after fake citations were found in a filing.
Illinois law firm and one of its partners · IL
news.bloomberglaw.com ↗
The file →
  • An Illinois law firm and one of its partners were sanctioned.
  • They were ordered to pay after fake citations were found in a filing.
  • The combined monetary award was $59,500.
  • Illinois; the article names no specific court.
  • The date is not given; the article says the payment went to the opposition law firm that uncovered the fake citations.
Fined ChatGPT
An attorney and his firm were fined after filing bankruptcy arguments containing four misrepresented or fictitious matters.
Bankruptcy proceedings matter · United States Bankruptcy Court
heplerbroom.com ↗
The file →
  • An attorney and his firm were sanctioned in bankruptcy proceedings.
  • Their filing cited four misrepresented or fictitious matters.
  • The court fined both the attorney and the firm.
  • United States Bankruptcy Court; the article gives no judge name.
  • The attorney admitted using ChatGPT and not verifying the citations before filing.
Fined
William T. Panichi was sanctioned at least three times after using generative AI in legal work.
William T. Panichi · William T. Panichi · IL
“After the first, he promised the court, “I’m not going to do it again,” just before getting hit with two more rounds of sanctions a month later.”
nypost.com ↗
The file →
  • Illinois attorney William T. Panichi was sanctioned at least three times.
  • The page ties the sanctions to generative AI use in legal research.
  • The article does not give an amount for the sanctions.
  • The page identifies Illinois as the state.
  • The page says he promised the court he would not do it again before two more sanctions a month later.
Fined $1K Westlaw Precision
A lawyer blamed Westlaw Precision for hallucinated citations, but the judge found the citations came from a suspended lawyer's work and imposed a $1,000 penalty.
Louisiana court imposed a $1,000 penalty · Louisiana court · LA
arstechnica.com ↗
The file →
  • Louisiana case involving an unnamed lawyer
  • She blamed Westlaw Precision for AI hallucinations in citations
  • $1,000 penalty
  • Louisiana court, Louisiana
  • The judge found she had outsourced the research to a currently suspended lawyer
Fined $500 ChatGPT
The plaintiff filed AI-prepared pleadings with fictitious legal authorities and was ordered to pay $500 in compensation.
Kalala c. Coopérative d'habitation La Fraternité Micheloise · Superior Court of Québec
lazaruslegal.com ↗
The file →
  • Kalala c. Coopérative d'habitation La Fraternité Micheloise; the plaintiff
  • The pleadings contained fictitious authorities and wrong Civil Code provisions
  • Monetary sanction of $500 in compensation
  • Superior Court of Québec
  • 2025; the plaintiff acknowledged using ChatGPT
Fined $750
A party filed AI-assisted pleadings containing fictitious legal authorities, and the court ordered that party to pay $750.
Bourse de l’Immobilier Multilogements inc. c. Lanthier · Superior Court of Québec
lazaruslegal.com ↗
The file →
  • Bourse de l’Immobilier Multilogements inc. c. Lanthier; the party
  • AI-assisted pleadings contained fictitious legal authorities
  • Monetary sanction of $750
  • Superior Court of Québec
  • 2025; the court said fabricated authorities are a serious procedural breach
Fined $2K ChatGPT 2026-07-31
Attorney Ian G. Gottlieb and his firm, GLG Law, LLC, filed applications for certification to appeal and subsequent briefs containing hallucinated case citations generated by ChatGPT.
TOV Realty, LLC v. Suarez / Kosel Equity, LLC v. MacGregor, 355 Conn. 902 (2026) · Ian G. Gottlieb; GLG Law LLC · Connecticut Supreme Court · CT
“Attorney Gottlieb did not have a dishonest or selfish motive, he cooperated with the disciplinary process by honestly and forthrightly responding to our requests seeking further information and understanding regarding the erroneous citations, he admitted his mistake, he showed sincere contrition, and he has no disciplinary history.”

Cases that don't exist

  • Tov Realty, LLC v. Suarez, 355 Conn. 902 (2026)
  • Kosel Equity v. MacGregor
law360.com ↗
The file →
  • Attorney Ian G. Gottlieb and his firm, GLG Law, LLC, were involved in the cases Tov Realty, LLC v. Suarez and Kosel Equity v. MacGregor.
  • They filed applications for certification to appeal and briefs that contained approximately seven erroneous or unverified citations generated by ChatGPT.
  • Sanctions imposed included 6 additional CLE hours, a $1,000 donation each to the CT Bar Institute, and a compliance report to the Appellate Clerk.
  • The incident occurred in Connecticut's state court system.
  • The court also used the opinion to flag Connecticut’s newly adopted practice rules requiring independent verification of any AI-generated citations or authorities in court filings.
Fined $1K 2026-07-31
The court imposed a $1,000 monetary sanction after finding counsel filed an objection containing 11 fabricated AI-generated case citations.
Matter of Mendel S. v Faigy S. · Family Court New York · NY
“The Court finds counsel's conduct was frivolous given that he filed an Objection with the Court that repeatedly cited fictitious cases and authorities which did ...”
law.justia.com ↗
The file →
  • Mendel S. v. Faigy S. involving an unnamed lawyer
  • 11 of 16 cited authorities were fabricated AI-generated cases
  • Monetary sanction of $1,000 imposed by the court
  • Family Court, New York State
  • Sanctioned on July 31, 2026; court declined bar referral due to remorse
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