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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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858
Incidents tracked
265
Incidents in 2026
$2,417,608
In fines, where reported
214 of 858 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 450 of 858 incidents; the rest are undated or fall outside this window.

Blamed by name

ChatGPT 151 Claude 9 CoCounsel 8 Copilot 8 Gemini 8 Lexis+ AI 6 AI-assisted legal software 4 Westlaw Precision 4 ChatGPT-4o 2 ChatOn 2 Eve 2 Google AI 2 LEAP 2 Perplexity AI 2 AI Overviews 1 Archie 1 Centient AI 1 ChatGPT-4 1 ClearBrief 1 CoCounsel, Westlaw Precision, Google Gem 1 Descrybe.ai 1 First Drafts 1 GPT-3.5 1 Ghostwriter Legal 1 Google Scholar 1 Grammarly 1 Grok 1 Irys 1 Legal Genius 1 LegalAI 1 MX2.law 1 OpenCase 1 Strongsuit 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
Warned
A litigant filed AI-generated fake case citations, and the High Court condemned the fabrication but imposed no immediate contempt finding or personal costs order.
Taiwo v Homelets of Bath Ltd · High Court
cms.law ↗
The file →
  • Taiwo v Homelets of Bath Ltd was the case discussed.
  • AI-generated case citations, including a non-existent Court of Appeal authority, were filed.
  • No immediate contempt finding or personal costs order was imposed solely for the citation fabrication.
  • High Court; England and Wales.
  • The court found credibility issues and noted potential misconduct or contempt.
Caught, not sanctioned
Annapolis officials were accused in a federal class action of filing a motion with at least one fake case and phantom quotations, but no sanction had been imposed on the page.
Annapolis City Attorney D. Michael Lyles · D. Michael Lyles · U.S. District Court · MD
“Plaintiffs cannot be sure, but the motion’s inclusion of fabricated citations and quotations are hallmarks of an AI generated motion with ‘hallucinations,’”
thedailyrecord.com ↗
The file →
  • Annapolis City Attorney D. Michael Lyles was named on the page.
  • Plaintiffs alleged the city's motion to decertify cited at least one nonexistent case and misquoted others.
  • The page reports no sanction yet; it says Lyles left the job after the accusation.
  • The matter is described as a federal class-action lawsuit concerning public housing in Maryland.
  • The page says the filing appeared to be an AI-generated motion with 'hallucinations'.
Reprimanded
A defendant’s solicitor used AI in opening submissions, producing non-existent citations, and the Victorian Supreme Court reprimanded her.
Re Walker · Victorian Supreme Court
“it was unacceptable for AI to be used by solicitors or barristers in the production of court documents, unless the product of that use is independently and thoroughly verified.”
bnlaw.com.au ↗
The file →
  • Re Walker; the defendant’s solicitor was sanctioned
  • AI was used in preparing opening submissions with hallucinated citations
  • The court imposed a reprimand with no monetary amount stated
  • Victorian Supreme Court, Australia
  • Justice Moore found four unfamiliar authorities chambers could not locate
Fined
A junior barrister filed a judicial review pleading with five nonexistent authorities, and the court ordered wasted costs and referred the matter to regulators.
Ayinde litigation and a junior barrister · High Court
“the submission of fabricated authorities as “appalling professional misbehaviour””
windowsforum.com ↗
The file →
  • Ayinde litigation and a junior barrister were sanctioned.
  • A pleading in judicial review cited five authorities that did not exist.
  • The court ordered wasted costs and referred the lawyers to regulators.
  • High Court, England and Wales.
  • 2025; the court said the conduct could reflect deliberate fabrication or unverified AI use.
Filing dismissed
A litigant in person used AI-generated authorities to challenge an election result; the High Court dismissed the petition and ordered £19,000 costs.
Reform UK Candidate Case (Worcestershire Election Challenge) · High Court
“an invention, indeed a hallucination, of AI.”
theaccessgroup.com ↗
The file →
  • Reform UK Candidate Case (Worcestershire Election Challenge) involved a litigant in person.
  • He used AI-generated authorities to challenge a local election result.
  • The High Court dismissed the petition and ordered £19,000 costs.
  • The court was the High Court in England and Wales.
  • The page says one cited case supposedly from 1912 did not exist.
Referred to the bar
A barrister cited the fabricated case 'Y (China)' in an immigration appeal, and the Upper Tribunal referred him to the Bar Standards Board.
MS v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] UKUT 305 (IAC) · Upper Tribunal
“null”
theaccessgroup.com ↗
The file →
  • MS v Secretary of State for the Home Department involved a barrister.
  • He cited the fabricated case 'Y (China)' during an immigration appeal.
  • The Upper Tribunal referred him to the Bar Standards Board.
  • The court was the Upper Tribunal (IAC).
  • The page says he doubled down by producing an internet printout with misleading statements.
Caught, not sanctioned ChatGPT
Counsel was said to have filed a letter brief with fabricated AI citations, and Judge Ruth Bermudez Montenegro dismissed the case for lack of diversity jurisdiction.
LaPaglia v. Valve Corp. · S.D. Cal. · CA

Cases that don't exist

  • Bassett's Adm'r v. Cunningham's Adm'r, 50 Va. 684
reason.com ↗
The file →
  • LaPaglia v. Valve Corp. involved petitioner's counsel.
  • Valve said counsel submitted a letter brief with AI-fabricated citations.
  • Judge Ruth Bermudez Montenegro dismissed the case for lack of diversity jurisdiction.
  • S.D. Cal., federal court in California.
  • The page says the counsel had been recently sanctioned by an arbitrator; ChatGPT was used only in a law-clerk check.
Fined $20K
Attorney Greta Kemp Martin filed legal memoranda with fabricated case citations and nonexistent quotes, and the court sanctioned her over $20,000 and ordered AI-hallucination CLE.
Greta Kemp Martin sanctions order · Greta Kemp Martin · US District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi · MS
“"highly suspcious"”
news.bloomberglaw.com ↗
The file →
  • Greta Kemp Martin was sanctioned.
  • She submitted legal memoranda with fabricated case citations and nonexistent quotes.
  • The court imposed over $20,000 in sanctions and ordered CLE on AI hallucinations.
  • The sanction came from the US District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.
  • Judge Sharion Aycock said she was "highly suspcious" that an AI tool generated the made-up authorities.

Showing 181–190 of 858.

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