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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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Incidents tracked

Incidents in 2026

In fines, where reported

0 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 Dec 2025 Aug 2026

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 Warned 1

Showing 1 incident involving Legal Genius. Clear filters

Warned Legal Genius 2025-06-30

The court found several authorities in the applicant’s heads of argument were fictitious and said they had been generated by an AI tool called Legal Genius.

Northbound Processing (Pty) Ltd v South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator and Others (2025/072038) [2025] ZAGPJHC 661 · Gauteng Division of the High Court · South Africa

“such conduct is unacceptable”

golegal.co.za ↗

The file →

Northbound Processing (Pty) Ltd v South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator and Others
Several authorities in the applicant’s heads of argument were found to be fictitious and AI-generated.
The court issued an early judicial warning, but the page does not report a monetary penalty or referral.
South Africa; decided by Smit AJ.
30 June 2025; counsel blamed time pressure and inadequate verification, not bad faith.

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