Fitzgerald v. Brady
Vermont SC · Dec 23, 2025
- Jurisdiction
- state
- Court
- Vermont SC
- Record ID
- fitzgerald-v-brady-2025-12-23
- Observed outcome
- The court granted the defendant's motion to dismiss in part and denied it in part, while issuing a formal warning to the plaintiff regarding the use of fake legal authorities.
- Known monetary consequence
- Not recorded
Why this matter warrants attention
The Vermont Superior Court issued a formal warning to a pro se litigant for citing non-existent case law and fabricated quotations in his filings. The court explicitly invoked Vermont Rule of Civil Procedure 11, cautioning that continued submission of unverified or fake legal authorities would subject the litigant to potential sanctions.
Fabricated: Case Law | Plaintiff cited a Vermont decision 'Russin v. Shepard, 2014 VT 22, 12' which the court found does not exist. || False Quotes: Case Law | Plaintiff attributed a quotation to Colby v. Umbrella, Inc., 2008 VT 20, ¶ 5 that actually appears in Bock v. Gold, 2008 VT 81, ¶ 4. || False Quotes: Case Law | Plaintiff attributed a quote to Hodgdon v. Mt. Mansfield Co., 160 Vt. 150, 162, 624 A.2d 1122, 1129 (1992) that does not appear in that opinion.
This record documents a Pro Se Litigant filing issue in Vermont SC, with the listed outcome: Warning.
Failure modes and consequences
- Pro Se
- Fake Citations
- Fabricated Quotes
- Tort
- Trial
- Warning
- AI attribution
- Implied
- Recorded tool
- AI (implied, unspecified)
- Known monetary consequence
- Not recorded
- Procedural posture
- Ruling on Defendant's Motion to Dismiss
Damien Charlotin case archive
Publisher document archive. The recorded document is hosted in the upstream publisher archive.
Open underlying sourceA recorded source link is not a substitute for checking the underlying order, filing, opinion, or disciplinary record.
What this record does—and does not—establish
The court noted the citations were likely generated by AI tools.
Retained unchanged after audit: the existing summary is source-specific, non-placeholder, and supported by the recorded source link. Read the underlying source before relying on it for legal advice or a filing.
Latest evidence review: Primary Document Verified (high confidence).
Controls suggested by the public record
- Verify each cited authority, quotation, and proposition against the underlying source before filing.
- Confirm that every authority actually supports the proposition for which it is offered.