AI Hallucination Cases

This database tracks legal decisions1 I.e., all documents where the use of AI, whether established or merely alleged, is addressed in more than a passing reference by the court or tribunal.

Notably, this does not cover mere allegations of hallucinations, but only cases where the court or tribunal has explicitly found (or implied) that a party relied on hallucinated content or material.

As an exception, the database also covers some judicial decisions where AI use was alleged but not confirmed. This is a judgment call on my part.
in cases where generative AI produced hallucinated content – typically fake citations, but also other types of AI-generated arguments. It does not track the (necessarily wider) universe of all fake citations or use of AI in court filings.

While seeking to be exhaustive (1313 cases identified so far), it is a work in progress and will expand as new examples emerge. This database has been featured in news media, and indeed in several decisions dealing with hallucinated material.2 Examples of media coverage include:
- M. Hiltzik, AI 'hallucinations' are a growing problem for the legal profession (LA Times, 22 May 2025)
- E. Volokh, "AI Hallucination Cases," from Courts All Over the World (Volokh Conspiracy, 18 May 2025)
- J-.M. Manach, "Il génère des plaidoiries par IA, et en recense 160 ayant « halluciné » depuis 2023" (Next, 1 July 2025) - J. Koebler & J. Roscoe, "18 Lawyers Caught Using AI Explain Why They Did It (404 Media, 30 September 2025)

If you have any questions about the database, a FAQ is available here.
And if you know of a case that should be included, feel free to contact me.3 (Readers may also be interested in this project regarding AI use in academic papers.)

Based on this database, I have developped an automated reference checker that also detects hallucinations: PelAIkan. Check the Reports Report icon in the database for examples, and reach out to me for a demo !

For weekly takes on cases like these, and what they mean for legal practice, subscribe to Artificial Authority.

State
Party
Nature – Category
Nature – Subcategory

Case Court / Jurisdiction Date ▼ Party Using AI AI Tool Nature of Hallucination Outcome / Sanction Monetary Penalty Details Report(s)
Farag v. Persante et al M.D. Florida (USA) 26 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (2)
Misrepresented Exhibits or Submissions (3), Legal Norm (1)
Warning
Ralph J. Massetti, Jr. v. Greenspring Capital Management, LLC, et al. S.D. Florida (USA) 26 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)

Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint included citations the Court could not locate; Greenspring moved for sanctions citing those nonexistent authorities. The Court found pro se status, correction attempts, and voluntary dismissal counseled against sanctions and therefore recommended denying the motion.

Gummadi Usha Rani v. Sure Mallikarjuna Rao HC Andhra Pradesh (India) 25 January 2026 Judge Unidentified
Fabricated Case Law (4)
Source: Alvin Antony
Cohen v. Egged Transportation Ltd Magistrates Court of Jerusalem (Israel) 25 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1), Legal Norm (1)
Order to Amend
Tarek Jabarin v. National Insurance Institute Haifa Regional Labor Court (Israel) 25 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Monetary Penalty 4000 ILS
Femhealth USA Carafem v. Rickey Nelson Williams M.D. Tennessee (USA) 23 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1), Legal Norm (1)
Arguments Struck; Warning
Dennis Thornton v. Flathead County, et al. D. Montana (USA) 23 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (3)
False Quotes Case Law (1)
Order to file conventional hard-copy source documents for every cited authority
Mykhal Lloyd Polite v. TitleMax of Arizona D. Arizona (USA) 23 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)

The Court noted prior use of hallucinated cases attributed to purported AI use and denied Plaintiff's motion for leave to amend as futile. The Court previously denied an earlier motion for failing to comply and because of hallucinated cases; here futility and procedural deficiencies warranted denial.

Source: Jesse Schaefer
Future Field Solutions v. Nordstrand D. Maryland (USA) 23 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Misrepresented Exhibits or Submissions (4)
No Sanctions at this time
Ann K. Cady, Beth L. Corning, and Caron G. Roesler v. Matthew C. O'Malley CA Wisconsin (USA) 23 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Misrepresented Case Law (1)
Warning
United States v. Michael Shane DeBaere (2) W.D. Virginia (USA) 23 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
False Quotes Case Law (2)
Misrepresented Case Law (1)
Warning
Future Field Solutions, LLC v. Van Norstrand D. Maryland (USA) 23 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1), Exhibits or Submissions (1)
Misrepresented Exhibits or Submissions (4)
Gu v Fogler Rubinoff SCJ Ontario (Canada) 23 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Unidentified
Fabricated Case Law (2)
Source: Courtready
Sidni Campbell v. John Campbell, Jr. CA Texas (USA) 22 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
False Quotes Case Law (1)
Warning
Source: Jesse Schaefer
McNeal v. United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555; Safeway, Inc. D. Oregon (USA) 22 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Warning
Tolbert v. State CA Georgia (USA) 22 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
False Quotes Case Law (1), Exhibits or Submissions (2)
Misrepresented Case Law (1)
Outdated Advice Overturned Case Law (1)
Counsel to serve opinion on client and State Bar; CLE; Bar referral
Source: Jesse Schaefer
Gonen v. Ashkenazi Tel Aviv Magistrate Court (Israel) 22 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Claim dismissed
That Xiong v. Minga Wofford E.D. California (USA) 22 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (2)
Order to inform client and staff of errors
Solomon A. Jones v. Kankakee County Sheriff's Department, et al. Seventh Circuit CA (USA) 21 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
False Quotes Case Law (2)
Warning
Kaufman v. Upton D. Massachusetts (USA) 21 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Bar Referral
Source: Jesse Schaefer
Volesky v. Department of Child Safety CA Arizona (USA) 21 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Cruz v. Manzano y Asociados Concepción (Chile) 21 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Monetary Sanction
William Parker v. Patrick "Pat" Labat, et al. N.D. Georgia (USA) 21 January 2026 Lawyer Unidentified
Fabricated Case Law (1)
False Quotes Case Law (4)
Misrepresented Case Law (2)
CLE; Sworn statement

While the R&R recommended a monetary sanction, in the eventual order (available here), the court opted only for six hours of CLE, and the requirement of a "sworn statement with every document [Counsel] files in this Court verifying that [Counsel] has personally checked all citations and quotations in the filing to ensure accuracy."

Peter J. Allsot, as next friend of B.P.L.A. v. Naseem Latif M.D. Florida (USA) 20 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Oluronke Briana Adusei v. Colleen Auer, et al. D. Arizona (USA) 20 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (2)
Warning
Yue v. Reaction Labs, LLC W.D. Texas (USA) 20 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Misrepresented Case Law (2)
Warning
Source: Jesse Schaefer
Mary Stephens v. Helena-West Helena School District E.D. Arkansas (Delta Division) (USA) 20 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (2)
Order to Show Cause
Mitchell Taylor Button et al. v. John Jimison (2) W.D. Washington (USA) 20 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (6)
Struck filings
Zou v. Miracon Development Inc. SC British Columbia (Canada) 20 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Monetary Sanction 200 CAD
Source: Courtready
Pellegrino v. York Condominium Corporation No. 486 CAT (Canada) 20 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Warning
Source: Courtready
Waddell (Re) Ontario SCJ (Canada) 20 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Source: Courtready
Riley v. Nuvei Australia Merchant Services Fair Work Commission (Australia) 19 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Unidentified
Fabricated Case Law (2)
The Republic of Uganda v Tugume Abubakar High Court (Uganda) 19 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (2)
Warning
Your Home Partners v. Kellichan Sheriffdom of Tayside (UK) 19 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Unidentified
Fabricated Case Law (2), Legal Norm (2)
Warning
Amit Arora v. Canadian National Railway Federal Court (Canada) 19 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (2)
Misrepresented Legal Norm (1)
Admonishment
Source: Courtready
Hodges v. Meridian Waste & Rieske v. AFS M.D. Florida (USA) 16 January 2026 Lawyer Unidentified
Fabricated Case Law (2)
Adverse costs order; requirement to speak to bar associations or law students about experience 7000 USD
Tiffany K. v. Commissioner of Social Security E.D. Michigan (USA) 16 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Warning
Source: Jesse Schaefer
Steven E. Hobbs, Sr. v. Igor Goncharko, et al. (2) N.D. Illinois (USA) 16 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (4)
Misrepresented Case Law (1)
Warning
Alzado-Lotz v. Bock D. Colorado (USA) 16 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
False Quotes Case Law (1)
Rev. Heidi Grossman Lepp v. Conrad Mallett, Jr., et al. E.D. Michigan (USA) 16 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant OpenAI ChatGPT-4o
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Misrepresented Case Law (1)
Arguments ignored

The Court refused to consider a pro se plaintiff's AI-generated "Legal Analysis Report" produced with ChatGPT-4o because it contained incorrect and factitious citations and misstatements of law; the Rule 60(b) motion was denied.

Source: Jesse Schaefer
Riverchase v. Paula Goldwyn CA Kansas (USA) 16 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (3)
Misrepresented Case Law (2)
Outdated Advice Overturned Case Law (1)
Warning
Robby Mendez v. City of Topeka, et al. D. Kansas (USA) 16 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Warning
Report
Plaintiff's Response

While the court did not ascertained whether the plaintiff's brief contained any hallucination, Pelaikan identified at least two, as well as several misrepresentations: see the report here.

Tafah et al. v. Lake Village Townhomes et al. D. Maryland (USA) 16 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Misrepresented Case Law (2)
Warning
X. v. Canada D. DC (USA) 16 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
False Quotes Case Law (1)
Adverse Costs order
Source: Jesse Schaefer
Robert Huish v HRMC First-tier Tribunal (UK) 16 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Unidentified
Fabricated Case Law (4)
Lutfi v. Tucker Federal Circuit and Family Court (Australia) 16 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Unidentified
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Warning
North Atlantic Operating Company, Inc., et al. v. Indiana Import, LLC, et al. S.D. Indiana (USA) 15 January 2026 Lawyer Implied
Fabricated Case Law (2)
Warning; Order to retain local counsel
Report
Motion to Dismiss
Source: Jesse Schaefer
Kisha Peters v. Banner Health S.D. Texas (USA) 15 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant ChatGPT
Fabricated Case Law (1)
False Quotes Case Law (1)
Recommended Dismissal with Prejudice
James Fahey v. Wally’s Las Vegas, LLC, et al. D. Nevada (USA) 15 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
False Quotes Case Law (5)
Warning
Re: IMO the Estate of Joseph L. Weddington CC Delaware (USA) 15 January 2026 Pro Se Litigant Implied
Fabricated Case Law (1)
Warning