Sixth Circuit Slaps Steep Sanctions on Two Lawyers for Fake Citations and Misrepresentations in Appellate Briefs

"All told, we found over two dozen fake citations and misrepresentations of fact in Whiting's briefs, a conservative estimate that excluded typos or sloppy citations that could be attributed to drafting errors rather than professional misconduct. The court attached a detailed appendix documenting specific instances of fabricated or misrepresented authority across multiple briefs filed in the three consolidated appeals."

"The court did not expressly find that the fabricated citations were the result of using generative AI. Rather, the court emphasized that no filing should contain citations, however generated, that a lawyer has not personally read and verified."

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sanctioned attorneys Van R. Irion and Russ Egli for extensive misconduct involving fabricated and misrepresented citations in briefs filed in consolidated appeals stemming from Whiting v. City of Athens, Tennessee. The three-judge panel identified over two dozen fake citations and factual misrepresentations across multiple briefs, including non-existent cases and false legal propositions. The court emphasized that lawyers must personally read and verify all citations regardless of how they are generated, rejecting any excuse based on generative AI use. The sanctions included $15,000 punitive fines per attorney paid to the court registry, joint responsibility for appellees' full attorney fees on appeal, and double costs. The court catalogued extensive problems in a detailed appendix documenting specific instances of fabricated authority across multiple categories of misconduct.

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