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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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7
Incidents tracked
0
Incidents in 2026
$108,139
In fines, where reported
2 of 7 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 4 of 7 incidents — the rest are undated or fall outside this window.

Blamed by name

ChatGPT 156 Claude 9 Copilot 8 Gemini 7 Lexis+ AI 4 LegalAI 3 Westlaw Precision 3 ChatOn 2 CoCounsel 2 LEAP 2 AI-assisted legal software 1 AI-based legal software 1 Archie 1 Centient AI 1 ChatGPT-4o 1 Descrybe.ai 1 Eve 1 GPT-3.5 1 Generative artificial intelligence (unsp 1 Ghostwriter Legal 1 Google AI Overview 1 Google Scholar 1 Grammarly 1 Grok 1 Legal Genius 1 Lexis 1 Lexis Nexis 1 Morgan & Morgan’s in-house Artificial In 1 OpenCase 1 OpenLaw 1 Perplexity AI 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 3 Fined 2 Outcome unclear 1 Reprimanded 1

Showing 7 incidents involving Gemini. Clear filters

Caught, not sanctioned Gemini
An attorney cited an unrelated Supreme Court precedent and later said they had not properly reviewed it after searching with Google Gemini.
Ulsan District Court matter · an attorney at the Ulsan District Court · Ulsan District Court
koreaherald.com ↗
The file →
  • Ulsan District Court matter; an attorney at the Ulsan District Court
  • The attorney cited an unrelated Supreme Court precedent in a filing
  • The page reports no sanction, only the attorney's later acknowledgment
  • Ulsan District Court, South Korea
  • Published June 14, 2026; the attorney said the search was done using Google Gemini
Fined $77K Gemini 2025-12-18
MIO Legal Consultants LLP filed a defence with AI-fabricated and unsupported case citations, and the court ordered indemnity costs.
Arabyads Holding Limited v. Gulrez Alam Marghoob Alam [2025] ADGMCFI 0032 · MIO Legal Consultants LLP · Abu Dhabi Global Market Court of First Instance
““The fault for reliance on AI hallucinations as factually accurate lies not with the research programme,  but with the person responsible for conducting the search.””
theaskconsultancy.com ↗
The file →
  • Arabyads Holding Limited v. Gulrez Alam Marghoob Alam [2025] ADGMCFI 0032 involved MIO Legal Consultants LLP.
  • The firm filed a 327-paragraph defence containing cases that did not exist or did not support the propositions cited.
  • The court ordered AED 282,508 in indemnity costs, about USD 77,039.
  • The order was issued by the Abu Dhabi Global Market Court of First Instance in Abu Dhabi.
  • On 2025-12-18, Justice Paul Heath KC said the fault lay with the person responsible for the search, not the AI.
Caught, not sanctioned Gemini 2025-12-04
The court declined to transfer the case and noted that counsel had cited AI-generated authorities, but no sanction order is described on the page.
In re Bard IVC Filters Products Liability Litigation · N.D. Ga. · GA
copyrightalliance.org ↗
The file →
  • In re Bard IVC Filters Products Liability Litigation; counsel
  • The page says counsel cited AI-generated authorities in the case
  • No sanction order is described on the page
  • N.D. Ga. in federal court, Georgia
  • 2025-12-04; the page mentions Gemini among AI tools
Reprimanded Gemini 2025-11-12
A Dubai-based lawyer cited two non-existent QFC cases in submissions, and the QFC Court found him in contempt but imposed no penal sanction.
Jonathan David Sheppard v Jillion LLC · A Dubai-based lawyer · Qatar International Court (QFC Court)
“It was inconceivable for any lawyer not to verify the case law citations produced by an AI tool with the actual body of case law published by the QFC Court.”

Cases that don't exist

  • Al Khor International School v. Gulf Contracting Co. (QFC 2022)
  • Doha Bank v. KPMG (QFC App 2019)
qatarlaw.com ↗
The file →
  • Jonathan David Sheppard v Jillion LLC; a Dubai-based lawyer
  • He relied on AI research and cited two non-existent QFC cases
  • The court found contempt but imposed no penal sanction
  • Qatar International Court (QFC Court), Qatar
  • 2025-11-12; the court said lawyers must verify AI-produced citations
Fined $31K Gemini 2025-05-01
A brief built with CoCounsel, Westlaw Precision and Google Gemini used fabricated citations, and the Special Master struck it and ordered costs.
Ellis George LLP and K&L Gates matter · Ellis George LLP and K&L Gates · Special Master
“deeply troubling”
legalfutures.co.uk ↗
The file →
  • Ellis George LLP and K&L Gates matter
  • The firms submitted a brief with fabricated citations generated using AI tools
  • The Special Master struck the brief and ordered $31,100 in costs
  • Special Master; location not stated on the page
  • May 2025; the page names CoCounsel, Westlaw Precision and Google Gemini
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