San Diego attorney hit with one of largest ever sanctions for submitting AI-hallucinated filings
An Oregon judge has ordered a San Diego attorney to pay nearly $96,000 in penalties for submitting briefs in a lawsuit that contained more than 20 nonexistent legal citations that were hallucinated by generative artificial intelligence — though the attorney contends he was not the one who drafted the briefs, and the judge said there is “persuasive evidence” the attorney’s San Diego client was responsible.
The penalties imposed on attorney Stephen Brigandi include $15,500 in disciplinary sanctions and nearly $80,500 in opposing counsel’s legal fees. That amounts to what is believed to be one of the largest ever monetary penalties — if not the largest ever — imposed on an attorney in the U.S. for submitting legal documents containing AI hallucinations.
A second attorney in the case, which deals with a family dispute over an Oregon vineyard and winery, was also ordered to pay more than $14,200 in opposing counsel’s legal fees, raising the total monetary penalties north of $110,000. Additionally, the judge took the rare and drastic step of permanently dismissing all legal claims brought by Brigandi’s client, San Diego resident Joanne Couvrette, against her brothers in the winery dispute.
“In the quickly expanding universe of cases involving sanctions for the misuse of artificial intelligence, this case is a notorious outlier in both degree and volume,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Clarke, from the District of Oregon, wrote in a lengthy opinion.
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/04/04/san-diego-attorney-hit-with-one-of-largest-ever-sanctions-for-submitting-ai-hallucinated-filings/?share=ufsnifnwtbseicniatae