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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
$3,501
In fines, where reported
2 of 3 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 2 of 3 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 3 Referred to the bar 2 Warned 1 Outcome unclear 1 Reprimanded 1

Showing 1–3 of 3 incidents involving CoCounsel. Clear filters

Fined $2K CoCounsel
The Fifth Circuit sanctioned an Arkansas lawyer for filing an AI-generated brief with 21 fictional case citations and other errors.
Arkansas lawyer sanctioned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit · U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
bestlawfirms.com ↗
The file →
  • An Arkansas lawyer was sanctioned by the Fifth Circuit.
  • The lawyer filed an AI-generated brief containing 21 fictional case citations and other errors.
  • The sanction type was monetary fine, but the page gives no amount.
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; federal appellate court.
  • No incident date is given; the page quotes the court on law-and-technology concerns.
Fined $1K CoCounsel 2026-04-28
A magistrate judge sanctioned Lenden Webb after Webb Law Group filed a brief with a fake citation partly caused by AI use and poor supervision.
Anthony C. Hill v. Workday, Inc. (2) · Lenden Webb / Webb Law Group · U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California · CA
vibegraveyard.ai ↗
The file →
  • Hill v. Workday involved Lenden Webb and Webb Law Group.
  • A discovery filing contained a fake citation caused in part by AI use and lack of supervision.
  • The court ordered a $1,001 personal payment and firmwide corrective steps.
  • The sanction came from the Northern District of California.
  • On 2026-04-28, Magistrate Judge Peter H. Kang required CLE and circulation of court materials; the page names Westlaw CoCounsel.
Fined CoCounsel 2026-04-03
The Sixth Circuit sanctioned an attorney after briefs generated by Westlaw’s CoCounsel contained fabricated quotations and misrepresented two real cases.
United States v. Farris · an attorney using Westlaw’s CoCounsel · U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit · KY
“The court held that citing "real legal authorities", as opposed to hallucinations featuring fictitious cases, did not absolve him.”

Cases that don't exist

  • United States v. Washington
  • United States v. Anthony
align.lawyer ↗
The file →
  • United States v. Farris involved an attorney using Westlaw’s CoCounsel.
  • Briefs generated by the AI contained fabricated quotations and misrepresented the holdings of two real cases.
  • The Sixth Circuit sanctioned the attorney.
  • The court was the Sixth Circuit, federal appellate court.
  • The order was dated Apr. 3, 2026, and involved legal-specific AI.
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