Lnu, et al. v. Bondi
CA California · Nov 4, 2025
- Jurisdiction
- state
- Court
- CA California
- Record ID
- lnu-et-al-v-bondi-2025-11-04
- Observed outcome
- The court imposed a $2,500 sanction on each attorney and suspended them from practice before the Ninth Circuit.
- Known monetary consequence
- $5,000
Why this matter warrants attention
The Ninth Circuit sanctioned two attorneys $2,500 each and suspended them from practice for submitting briefs containing fabricated case law and misattributed quotations. The court held that attorneys are responsible for verifying all cited authorities, regardless of whether the errors originated from generative AI or human research, and that the attorneys' failure to disclose the nature of these errors constituted a breach of the duty of candor.
Fabricated: Case Law || Fabricated: Case Law || False Quotes: Case Law || False Quotes: Case Law
Treat every AI-drafted brief as unverified until a human checks each citation against Westlaw or Lexis.
Failure modes and consequences
- Fake Citations
- Fabricated Quotes
- Appellate
- None Adjudicated
- AI attribution
- Implied
- Recorded tool
- unspecified
- Known monetary consequence
- $5,000
- Procedural posture
- Disciplinary order issued by the Ninth Circuit following an Order to Show Cause regarding the submission of briefs containing fabricated citations and misrepresentations of law.
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Official court or government source. The recorded link is hosted by a court or government domain.
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 attorneys denied using AI, but the court treated the errors as potential AI hallucinations.
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.
- Retain a matter-level record of source checks and corrections.