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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
Filing dismissed 2026-03-19
The court struck the brief, awarded adverse costs, and dismissed the case with prejudice after a lawyer relied on fabricated case law.
Pittman v. Hazel and Olive, Inc. · N.D. Illinois · IL
damiencharlotin.com ↗
The file →
  • Pittman v. Hazel and Olive, Inc. involving an unnamed lawyer
  • Lawyer cited fabricated case law in a court filing
  • Court struck the brief, issued an adverse costs order, and dismissed the case with prejudice
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
  • Sanctioned on March 19, 2026
Fined $10K Google AI 2026-03-18
The Oregon Court of Appeals fined William L. Ghiorso $10,000 after his appellate brief cited 15 hallucinated cases.
Doiban v. Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission · William Ghiorso · Oregon Court of Appeals · OR
“submitting a brief with unchecked and ultimately fabricated citations may breach an attorney’s duties of professionalism, truthfulness, and candor to the court.”
kgw.com ↗
The file →
  • Doiban v. Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission involving petitioner's counsel
  • Counsel submitted an opening brief containing 15 fabricated case citations and 9 non-existent quotes from unverified AI/search output
  • Court imposed a $10,000 monetary sanction and ordered a replacement brief with certified non-AI verification
  • Oregon Court of Appeals
  • Decided March 18, 2026; counsel admitted using unverified search results and AI for outlining
Warned 2026-03-16
The appellant’s written submissions contained wrong citations and non-existent cases, and the Court of Appeal criticized the AI-hallucination risk but did not impose a sanction in the excerpt.
Von Geitz v. Kelly & Robertson · Irish Court of Appeal
““The plaintiff’s written submissions are littered with propositions of law in quotation marks which are unsupported by authority; reference to authorities which have nothing to do with the asserted propositions of law; wrong citations; and a few non-existent cases.””
naturalandartificiallaw.com ↗
The file →
  • Von Geitz v. Kelly & Robertson in the Court of Appeal.
  • Written submissions contained wrong citations and non-existent cases.
  • The court warned and criticized, but the excerpt shows no formal sanction.
  • Court of Appeal, Ireland.
  • 16 March 2026; Allen J. said the non-existent cases might have been AI hallucinations.
Caught, not sanctioned 2026-03-16
A Rotterdam lawyer previously called out for AI-hallucinated case law again submitted non-existent judgments at the same court, and the court disregarded the reliance on that purported case law.
Lawyer previously reprimanded again cites AI case law · a Rotterdam lawyer · Rotterdam court
verileges.nl ↗
The file →
  • A Rotterdam lawyer was involved again after an earlier callout.
  • The lawyer submitted non-existent judgments at the same court.
  • The court disregarded the reliance on the purported case law.
  • Rotterdam court.
  • 16 March 2026; the page does not state a sanction.
Fined $116K 2026-03-13
Two Tennessee attorneys filed briefs with more than two dozen fake or misrepresented citations, and the Sixth Circuit imposed sanctions and referred them for discipline.
Whiting v. City of Athens, Tennessee · Van R. Irion and Russ Egli · U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · TN
“The court found they "repeatedly misrepresented the record, cited non-existent cases, and cited cases for propositions of law that they did not even discuss, much less support."”

Cases that don't exist

  • Berg v. Knox Cnty., TN, 2024 WL 2012345, at *4 (6th Cir. Mar. 12, 2024)
  • Jones v. Hamilton Cnty., 29 F.4th 647, 655 (6th Cir. 2022)
  • Adcock-Ladd v. Secretary of the Treasury, 227 F.3d 343, 350 (6th Cir. 2000)

+1 more

opn.ca6.uscourts.gov ↗
The file →
  • Whiting v. City of Athens, Tennessee involved two Tennessee attorneys.
  • Their briefs contained more than two dozen fake or misrepresented citations across three appeals.
  • The court imposed about $116,000 in sanctions and referred them for discipline.
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, federal.
  • 2026; the order set $15,000 per attorney plus fees and double costs.
Reprimanded $1K Eve 2026-03-13
John A. Griffiths submitted filings with fabricated and misrepresented case law, resulting in a reprimand and an order to pay State Bar costs.
John A. Griffiths · John A. Griffiths · Arizona State Bar · AZ
damiencharlotin.com ↗
The file →
  • John A. Griffiths was involved in an incident with the Arizona State Bar.
  • John A. Griffiths submitted filings containing fabricated and misrepresented case law using Eve.legal.
  • He received a reprimand and was ordered to pay State Bar costs and expenses of $1,200.
  • The incident occurred in the Arizona State Bar, a state jurisdiction.
  • The sanction was issued on March 13, 2026, due to AI-generated legal errors.
Reprimanded Lexis+ AI 2026-03-11
Three nonexistent cases, including a Supreme Court decision, were cited in an employment discrimination appeal, leading to public admonishment.
Bolden v. Baltimore Gas & Electric Co (In re: Eric Chibueze Nwaubani) · Eric Chibueze Nwaubani · Fourth Circuit Standing Panel on Attorney Discipline
“three nonexistent cases, each with materially different citations than those of the cases [the attorney] meant to cite”

Cases that don't exist

  • Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. v. Jackson, 548 U.S. 629 (2006)
  • Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Glencore Ltd., 611 F.3d 1330 (Fed. Cir. 2010)
  • In re Acres Properties, Inc., 100 F.3d 1307 (7th Cir. 1996)
nortonrosefulbright.com ↗
The file →
  • In In re Nwaubani, an attorney was sanctioned.
  • Three nonexistent cases, including a fake Supreme Court decision, were cited in an appeal.
  • The sanction was a public admonishment for violating Fourth Circuit Local Rule 46(g)(1)(c).
  • The incident occurred in the U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Cir.
  • On 2026-03-11, the attorney denied using generative AI, resulting in disciplinary action.
Referred to the bar 2026-03-11
A solicitor filed material with seven non-existent cases and 12 non-existent quotations; Justice Kristen Walker referred the matter to the Legal Services Commissioner.
Oberoi v Douglas [2026] VSCA 31 · Dib & Associates Lawyers · Supreme Court of Victoria · VIC
“It is not acceptable for artificial intelligence to be used by solicitors or barristers in the production of court documents, unless the product of that use is independently and thoroughly verified,”
lawyersweekly.com.au ↗
The file →
  • Oberoi v Douglas [2026] VSCA 31 involved a solicitor represented by Dib & Associates Lawyers.
  • The solicitor's written material contained seven non-existent cases and 12 quotations that could not be located.
  • Justice Kristen Walker referred the solicitor to the Legal Services Commissioner for investigation.
  • Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia.
  • March 11, 2026; the solicitor ignored emails seeking an explanation and the court noted serious concerns about potential AI use.

Showing 521–530 of 857.

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