Mississippi judge sanctions 4 lawyers for AI-made fake citations

A federal judge in the Northern District of Mississippi sanctioned four lawyers after court filings in a private contract dispute contained fabricated case citations produced by generative AI. The false authorities appeared across three briefs filed in November 2025.

The court found that out-of-state lead attorneys for both sides used AI to draft or research the briefs and did not verify the citations. Local co-counsel on each side electronically signed the filings without reviewing them.

The judge fined the defendant’s lead counsel $3,500 and barred that lawyer from appearing in the district for two years. The plaintiff’s lead counsel was fined $2,500, barred from the district for two years and ordered to complete an AI ethics continuing legal education course within 60 days. The court also revoked both lawyers’ pro hac vice admissions.

Local co-counsel on each side were fined $1,000 and disqualified from further participation in the case. The court referred all four attorneys to their state bar associations for possible additional discipline.

The order stated the misconduct was identical on both sides but not coordinated. The judge began an inquiry after he could not locate the cases cited in the parties’ filings.

The court included a passage on professional responsibility: “Generative technology can produce words… [but] sincerity, truth, or responsibility… remains the sacred duty of the lawyer who signs the page.”

The ruling notes that machine-generated text can present fluent, confident-sounding citations that are not real, and that human verification is necessary. The decision adds to other court actions addressing machine-generated errors and invented authorities in legal filings.

The case began as a private contract dispute in the Northern District of Mississippi. The sanctions order limits the four lawyers’ roles in this case and opens the possibility of further action by state bar regulators.