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AI in Court

Court Finds AI Hallucinations in Filing by Former State Senate Candidate

Eugene Volokh | 5.2.2026 8:01 AM

From Jimenez-Fogarty v. Fogarty, decided Wednesday by Magistrate Gabriel W. Gorenstein (S.D.N.Y.); Lindsay had run for the N.Y. State Senate in 2024:

Tricia S. Lindsay, attorney for plaintiff Sai Malena Jimenez-Fogarty, responded to two motions to dismiss by filing a pair of memoranda of law that cited to numerous nonexistent cases. In response, the Court ordered Lindsay to show cause why she should not be sanctioned for her misleading filings. Upon consideration of Lindsay's response to these orders, we find that she should be sanctioned in the amount of $2,500.00 ….

[T]wo briefs were signed by Lindsay, and each contained a number of fabricated citations. When we say "fabricated," we do not mean citations that arguably contain typographical errors—for example, Lindsay's citations to cases that exist and support the propositions for which they were cited but are not located in the volume or at the page of the reporter (or database identifier) given. Similarly, we exclude any otherwise correct citations that give the wrong case name. We also exclude those instances where the cited case covers the same topic as the proposition for which it is cited but where the case's holding is completely mischaracterized, although such a citation is itself grossly misleading and perhaps deserving of sanctions.

Instead, we consider only citations to cases that cannot be located at all by name—or that were not located where Lindsay said they were and have nothing to do with the propositions for which they were cited—thus showing that the citations were completely made up. The following are descriptions of some of the fabricated citations [listing seven items -EV] ….

Lindsay's response to being alerted to the fabricated citations did not follow the typical pattern in cases where courts have called upon attorneys to explain the presence of fabricated citations in their papers. The Court's first OSC [Order to Show Cause] specifically ordered Lindsay to provide "a complete and detailed description of the process of the drafting of the two memoranda of law." While most attorneys provide such an explanation, which often involves an admission of reliance on artificial intelligence ("AI") platforms, Lindsay's brief sworn statement in response offers only airy generalities and conclusory statements. Her response contains no coherent explanation for how the two memoranda of law came to contain the fabricated citations. The most basic questions—most obviously: what was the source of the fabricated citations?—are never answered.

Thus, Lindsay states merely that she "follow[s] a structured and diligent process designed to ensure accuracy, thoroughness, and compliance with all applicable legal and ethical standards." Bizarrely, she then discusses her........

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