In re BFI Waste Sys. of Tenn.
M.D. Tenn. · Aug 6, 2026
- Jurisdiction
- federal
- Court
- M.D. Tenn.
- Record ID
- in-re-bfi-waste-sys-of-tenn-2026-08-06
- Observed outcome
- Public reprimand and $1,500 monetary sanction payable to the Clerk for a Rule 11 violation related to hallucinated authorities.
- Known monetary consequence
- $1
Why this matter warrants attention
False Quotes: Case Law | Filed brief contained quotations that did not exist—court determined quoted material attributed to cases was fabricated and unsupported. Outcome: Public reprimand and $1,500 monetary sanction payable to the Clerk for a Rule 11 violation related to hallucinated authorities.. The Court found that a filed brief (Doc. No. 293), drafted solely by attorney Louis W. Ringger III, contained hallucinated quotations and misleading or nonexistent legal citations produced via artificial-intelligence tools that Ringger failed to verify. The Court ordered a show-cause, Ringger admitted the deficiency, apologized, and proposed corrective measures. Applying Rule 11 principles, the Court publicly reprimanded Ringger and imposed a $1,500 sanction (mitigated due to apology, lack of prior history, and remedial steps), explaining that attorneys remain ultimately responsible for verifying authorities even when using AI.
The structured public record identifies fake citations and fabricated quotes and records Public reprimand and $1,500 monetary sanction payable to the Clerk for a Rule 11 violation related to hallucinated authorities.. The linked source controls the precise reasoning and procedural context.
This matter connects fake citations and fabricated quotes with Public reprimand and $1,500 monetary sanction payable to the Clerk for a Rule 11 violation related to hallucinated authorities. in M.D. Tenn.. It provides a source-linked baseline for verification, supervision, and response controls.
Failure modes and consequences
- Fake Citations
- Fabricated Quotes
- Trial
- Monetary
- Professional
- AI attribution
- Not Established
- Recorded tool
- Unidentified
- Known monetary consequence
- $1
- Procedural posture
- Public reprimand and $1,500 monetary sanction payable to the Clerk for a Rule 11 violation related to hallucinated authorities.
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 current record does not establish a specific AI tool. Do not infer AI use beyond the source.
The record summarizes the outcome described in the linked public source. The recorded document is hosted in the upstream publisher archive. This page is not a substitute for the complete docket, subsequent history, or jurisdiction-specific advice.
Controls suggested by the public record
- Verify the existence, citation, court, and precedential status of every authority before filing.
- Compare every quoted passage and pincite directly with the underlying opinion or filing.
- Read the linked source and subsequent docket history before relying on this record for legal work.