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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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1
Incidents tracked
0
Incidents in 2026
$5,000
In fines, where reported
1 of 1 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

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 Fined 1

Showing 1 incident involving Ghostwriter Legal. Clear filters

Fined $5K Ghostwriter Legal 2025-10-10
James A. Johnson filed a motion with fabricated AI-generated citations, and Judge Terry F. Moorer reprimanded him and imposed sanctions.
United States v. McGee · James A. Johnson · US District Court for the Southern District of Alabama · AL
“Somehow the message still has not been hammered home as the epidemic of citing fake cases continues unabated,”
news.bloomberglaw.com ↗
The file →
  • United States v. McGee involved James A. Johnson of Loxley, Ala.
  • He filed a motion in a criminal case containing nonexistent legal citations generated by AI.
  • Judge Terry F. Moorer imposed $5,000 in sanctions and reprimanded him.
  • The court was the US District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
  • On 2025-10-10, Moorer said basic reprimands and small fines were not enough to deter the misconduct.
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