legaltech.fyi Beta

Tracker

Sanctions watch

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

Embed this
53
Incidents tracked
12
Incidents in 2026
$280,119
In fines, where reported
44 of 53 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 23 of 53 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 53 Caught, not sanctioned 32 Warned 19 Referred to the bar 17 Reprimanded 13 Filing dismissed 10 Outcome unclear 6 Suspension 1

Showing 11–20 of 53 incidents involving ChatGPT. Clear filters

Fined $10K ChatGPT
An attorney filed AI-enhanced appellate briefs with fabricated citations and quotations; the California Court of Appeal sanctioned him $10,000 and referred him to the State Bar.
[Los Angeles attorney; case caption not named on page] · attorney in Los Angeles · California Court of Appeal · CA

Cases that don't exist

  • Schimmel v. Levin
  • Peake v. Underwood
vlex.com ↗
The file →
  • Los Angeles attorney was sanctioned after filing AI-enhanced appellate briefs.
  • ChatGPT generated fabricated citations and quotations that were filed without reading.
  • The court imposed a $10,000 sanction and referred him to the State Bar.
  • California Court of Appeal, California.
  • Page says the sanction was the highest fine ever issued by a California state court for AI misuse.
Fined $10K ChatGPT
A California attorney was fined for filing a state court appeal with fake quotations generated by ChatGPT.
California attorney sanctioned for fake quotations generated by ChatGPT · CA
cybernews.com ↗
The file →
  • A California attorney was sanctioned for an AI-generated filing.
  • The attorney used fake quotations generated by ChatGPT in a state court appeal.
  • The court imposed a $10,000 fine.
  • The matter was in California state court.
  • The page says the fine was issued in September and calls it historic.
Fined $500 ChatGPT
Michael Chambers filed a motion containing ChatGPT-generated fake case citations, and the court sanctioned him for the AI-made fabrications.
Arthur v. City of Hartford · Michael Chambers · U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut · CT

Cases that don't exist

  • Mati v. City of Hartford
  • Smith v. City of Hartford
  • Johnson v. City of Hartford
nytimes.com ↗
The file →
  • Arthur v. City of Hartford; Michael Chambers was sanctioned.
  • He filed a motion with ChatGPT-generated fake legal citations.
  • The court imposed a $500 monetary fine.
  • U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
  • The page says the fake cases came from ChatGPT.
Fined ChatGPT
Steven A. Schwartz filed a brief with AI-fabricated cases and quotations, and the court sanctioned the filing.
In re Schwartz · Steven A. Schwartz · federal court
prinz-lawfirm.com ↗
The file →
  • In re Schwartz involved Steven A. Schwartz and AI-fabricated citations.
  • He submitted a brief with made-up cases and quotations.
  • The court sanctioned the filing with a monetary fine.
  • The page says courts in Wyoming, California, Texas, and Pennsylvania have sanctioned similar conduct.
  • It identifies ChatGPT as one of the AI tools that can hallucinate citations.
Fined $2K ChatGPT
An attorney filed a pleading citing at least six nonexistent cases, and Judge Martínez fined him $1,500 and ordered ethics training and bar reporting.
Unnamed New Mexico attorney · unnamed New Mexico attorney · U.S. Magistrate Judge Damian Martínez · NM
“The six cases were fake and likely the handiwork of a ChatGPT or similar artificial intelligence (AI) program’s hallucinations,”
govtech.com ↗
The file →
  • An unnamed New Mexico attorney was sanctioned for fake citations.
  • He filed a pleading with at least six nonexistent cases.
  • Judge Martínez fined him $1,500 and required bar reporting and AI ethics training.
  • U.S. Magistrate Judge Damian Martínez, Las Cruces, New Mexico.
  • Last year; the article says the fake cases were likely from ChatGPT or a similar AI program.
Fined $5K ChatGPT
Two New York lawyers filed a brief with six fake ChatGPT-created case citations and were fined $5,000.
Two New York lawyers sanction incident · two New York lawyers · United States District Court for the Southern District of New York · NY
cnbc.com ↗
The file →
  • Two New York lawyers were the sanctioned attorneys.
  • They submitted a legal brief with six fake case citations created by ChatGPT.
  • The court fined them $5,000.
  • The matter was in federal court in New York.
  • The page says this happened in 2023, and the AI tool was ChatGPT.
Fined $5K ChatGPT
A New York lawyer filed court papers citing fake legal cases generated by ChatGPT, and the judge fined the lawyer and his firm $5,000.
Unknown New York lawyer matter · a New York lawyer · court not named on page · NY
bloomfire.com ↗
The file →
  • A New York lawyer and his firm were fined in court.
  • He filed papers with fake legal cases generated by ChatGPT.
  • The judge imposed a $5,000 fine.
  • The page does not name the court or judge.
  • The article names ChatGPT as the source of the fabricated citations.
Get Sanctions Watch in your inbox
New AI-citation sanctions, the morning after they hit the docket.