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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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857
Incidents tracked
266
Incidents in 2026
$2,397,608
In fines, where reported
212 of 857 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 452 of 857 incidents; the rest are undated or fall outside this window.

Blamed by name

ChatGPT 147 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 249 Caught, not sanctioned 198 Warned 124 Referred to the bar 101 Reprimanded 86 Outcome unclear 57 Filing dismissed 39 Suspension 2 Upcoming sanction 1
Caught, not sanctioned
Kathleen Wilson was sanctioned in a separate bankruptcy case after admitting she submitted filings with AI hallucinations.
Kathleen Wilson · Kathleen Wilson · U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana · LA
mississippifreepress.org ↗
The file →
  • Kathleen Wilson was sanctioned in a separate case.
  • She admitted submitting filings with AI hallucinations.
  • The article does not state the sanction type or amount in that case.
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana; Louisiana.
  • The page says the sanction happened back in March, but gives no full date or judge quote.
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
Warned
Terrance Dixon filed a brief in a sanctions dispute that allegedly used fabricated AI-generated quotations, and Roc Nation asked the court to strike it.
Terrance Dixon v. Roc Nation LLC · Terrance Dixon · U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York · NY
reuters.com ↗
The file →
  • Terrance Dixon's counsel in litigation involving Roc Nation LLC and Fat Joe
  • Plaintiff's counsel filed an opposition brief during a Rule 11 sanctions dispute containing fabricated quotes
  • Roc Nation urged the court to strike the brief due to the alleged AI-generated fabrications
  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
  • Roc Nation alleged the opposition brief cited real judicial decisions but inserted fake quotations into them
Caught, not sanctioned
One party cited authorities that the court said appeared to be AI 'hallucinations,' but no sanction is reported on the page.
Blinds to Go Inc. c. Blachley · Superior Court of Québec
“Justice Lukasz Granosik noted that the cited authorities appeared to be AI "hallucinations" with no basis in law.”
lazaruslegal.com ↗
The file →
  • Blinds to Go Inc. c. Blachley; one of the parties
  • Cited authorities appeared to be AI hallucinations
  • No sanction is stated on the page
  • Superior Court of Québec
  • 2025; Justice Lukasz Granosik made the observation

Showing 371–380 of 857.

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