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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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3
Incidents tracked
2
Incidents in 2026
$8,000
In fines, where reported
3 of 3 report an amount

The curve

Incidents per month

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

Mar 2025 Aug 2026

Charting 2 of 3 incidents — the rest are undated or fall outside this window.

Blamed by name

ChatGPT 58 Claude 3 Copilot 2 Gemini 2 Lexis+ AI 2 Westlaw Precision 2 Archie 1 ChatOn 1 CoCounsel 1 Ghostwriter Legal 1 Google Scholar 1 Grok 1 Lexis 1 Lexis Nexis 1 Westlaw CoCounsel 1 Westlaw’s CoCounsel 1 in-house AI database 1

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

Hall of Shame

All Caught, not sanctioned 4 Fined 3 Referred to the bar 2

Showing 3 incidents involving Claude. Clear filters

Fined $1K Claude 2026-05-18
A lawyer filed a brief with Claude-generated fabricated quotes and was fined $1,000 plus ordered to take an AI-assistance course.
Louisiana district court matter · Louisiana district court · LA
“Ignorance of the risks of AI usage is no longer an excuse,”
cebudailynews.inquirer.net ↗
The file →
  • Jerry Edwards Jr. sanctioned the lawyer in a Louisiana district court matter.
  • The brief contained seven AI-generated quotes attributed to prior rulings that were false or misrepresented.
  • The court fined him $1,000 and ordered a three-hour AI-assisted legal practice course.
  • Louisiana district court, Louisiana.
  • The sanctions order was issued May 18; the lawyer said a clerk had caught errors in an earlier draft and then he used Claude to fix them.
Fined $5K Claude 2026-04-27
Raja Rajan was sanctioned $5,000 for filing a brief with AI-generated fabrications and had already been fined $2,500 in the same matter.
Rajan matter · Raja Rajan · US District Court · PA
“any first-year law student knows you have to verify the authority cited, and warned that a third strike would mean referral to Pennsylvania's disciplinary board.”
habeas.ai ↗
The file →
  • Raja Rajan was sanctioned in a federal matter in Pennsylvania.
  • He filed a brief containing AI-generated fabrications.
  • The court imposed a $5,000 sanction, after a prior $2,500 fine in the same case.
  • US District Judge Kai Scott issued the order in Pennsylvania.
  • Rajan said he could not remember whether he used Claude, ChatGPT or Grok.
Fined $2K Claude 2024-01-01
A plaintiff's brief used Claude-generated citations to two nonexistent cases and fabricated quotations, and the court imposed a modest sanctions order.
Gauthier v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. · Brandon Monk · U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas · TX
counselpro.ai ↗
The file →
  • Gauthier v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.; plaintiff's attorney
  • The brief contained two nonexistent cases and fabricated quotations generated by Claude.
  • The court imposed a $2,000 penalty plus CLE and employer notice requirements.
  • Eastern District of Texas; federal court in Texas.
  • Late 2024; the attorney admitted using Claude without verifying the output.
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