legaltech.fyi Beta

Tracker

Sanctions watch

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

Embed this
4
Incidents tracked
3
Incidents in 2026
$11,500
In fines, where reported
4 of 4 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 3 of 4 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 4 Referred to the bar 2 Caught, not sanctioned 2 Warned 1

Showing 1–4 of 4 incidents involving Claude. Clear filters

Fined $4K Claude 2026-08-04
Defense counsel Hilary B. Miller was fined $3,500 and referred to the Grievance Committee after filing two motions containing 16 AI-generated legal errors.
Barteca Intermediate Holdings LLC et al. v. Tacobarn Newtown LLC et al. · Hilary B. Miller · U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut · CT
“Applying the framework discussed above, the Court finds that the first factor—verification and inquiry—weighs in favor of sanctions because Attorney Miller failed to conduct a reasonable human verification of the authorities cited in the challenged filings before submitting them.”
ediscoveryllc.com ↗
The file →
  • Barteca Holdings v. Tacobarn Newtown involved defense attorney Hilary B. Miller.
  • Miller submitted two motions containing 16 errors in citations, quotations, and rules from unverified AI research.
  • The court imposed a $3,500 fine and referred the attorney to the court's Grievance Committee.
  • The case was before the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
  • On August 4, 2026, Judge Vernon D. Oliver found Miller violated Rule 11 after using Claude, OpenLaw, and ChatGPT.
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.
Herbert Brooks v. Lowes Home Centers LLC · W.D. Louisiana · 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 filed court papers with made-up AI-generated case citations; Judge Kai N. Scott imposed a $5,000 sanction and required extra AI-and-ethics CLE.
Bunce v. Visual Tech. Innovations, Inc. · Raja Rajan · U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania · 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.”
news.bloomberglaw.com ↗
The file →
  • Bunce v. Visual Tech. Innovations Inc.; Raja Rajan of Cherry Hill, NJ
  • He used made-up, AI-generated case citations in filings for a second time
  • Judge Kai N. Scott fined him $5,000 and ordered additional CLE
  • US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • 2026-04-20; Scott said there was no valid reason for not verifying the citations
Fined $2K Claude 2024-11-01
Brandon Monk filed a wrongful-termination brief with fake cases and AI-generated quotes and was fined $2,000 plus ordered to take an AI legal course.
Gauthier v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. · Brandon Monk · U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas · TX
legal.thomsonreuters.com ↗
The file →
  • Brandon Monk and Monk Law Firm were sanctioned.
  • He submitted a filing with fake cases and AI-generated quotes in a Goodyear wrongful-termination suit.
  • The court fined him $2,000 and ordered an AI legal course.
  • A Texas federal judge imposed the sanction.
  • November 2024; Judge Marcia Crone had ordered him to explain why he should not face sanctions.
Get Sanctions Watch in your inbox
New AI-citation sanctions, the morning after they hit the docket.