Fined
$31K
CoCounsel, Westlaw Precision, Google Gem
2025-05-06
Attorneys filed a brief with fabricated AI citations, failed to fix them, and were ordered to inform their client and pay $31,100 in legal fees.
Lacey v. State Farm Gen. Ins. Co. · K&L Gates LLP and Ellis George LLP · U.S. District Court for the Central District of California · CA
“I read their brief, was persuaded (or at least intrigued) by the authorities that they cited, and looked up the decisions … only to find that they didn’t exist. That’s scary.”
legalfutures.co.uk ↗
The file →
- Lacey v. State Farm involving law firms Ellis George and K&L Gates.
- Brief incorporated hallucinated authorities from CoCounsel, Westlaw Precision, and Gemini.
- Sanctioned $31,100 ($26,100 in special-master fees plus $5,000 fine).
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (Special Master Wilner).
- Dated May 6, 2025; K&L Gates included an unverified AI outline provided by co-counsel.