Tracker

Sanctions watch

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

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Incidents tracked

Incidents in 2026

$11,000

In fines, where reported

2 of 2 report an amount

The curve

Incidents per month

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

Mar 2025 Dec 2025 Aug 2026

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 Warned 5 Fined 2 Referred to the bar 1

Showing 2 incidents involving Copilot. Clear filters

Fined $5K Copilot 2026-06-11

Ginsburg filed a brief with a fake case, fake quotes, and incorrect legal propositions, and the court imposed sanctions and struck the response.

McCormick v. Texakoma Financial, Inc. · Amy L.B. Ginsburg · U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas · TX

“If someone—even an intern—gets the case name, number, year, and quotation wrong, they are not struggling with research or citation formatting. They are struggling with honesty.”

tcpaworld.com ↗

The file →

McCormick v. Texakoma Financial, Inc. against Amy L.B. Ginsburg
Brief contained a fake case, fake quotes, and incorrect legal propositions
Court ordered a $5,000 penalty and struck the response
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Texas
June 11, 2026; court also ordered publication, CLE, and future verification certification

Fined $6K Copilot 2025-07-01

Post-trial filings contained about 30 defective citations generated by Copilot, Gemini, and Grok, and Judge Nina Y. Wang imposed sanctions.

Coomer v. Lindell · Christopher I. Kachouroff; Jennifer T. DeMaster; MyPillow attorneys · U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado · CO

“the “least severe sanction adequate to deter and punish defense counsel in this instance.””

getvoibe.com ↗

The file →

Coomer v. Lindell sanctioned Christopher I. Kachouroff and Jennifer T. DeMaster.
Their post-trial filings contained about 30 defective citations from Copilot, Gemini, and Grok.
Judge Nina Y. Wang imposed $3,000 each, totaling $6,000.
U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
July 2025; in April 2026 Wang issued an order to show cause proposing additional sanctions.

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