Damon Forney v. Township of Cary, North Carolina
Repeat offender (verified in the record)
The case
Damon Forney v. Township of Cary, North Carolina, E.D.N.C., No. 5:25-CV-00738-M, 2026 WL 2439988, filed August 3, 2026. Copy of primary document: `~/workspace/goals/ai-sanctions-case-monitoring/files/sources/D-162-forney-v-township-of-cary.pdf`.
What happened
Plaintiff's counsel Lucas Colantonio submitted a brief containing fabricated legal authority, for the second time. After his first transgression, the court had expressly warned him about the consequences of repeating the conduct. He did not heed the warning.
The rule and the sanction
The court's inherent authority. The court ordered Colantonio to pay the attorney fees the Town of Cary incurred in responding to his brief (amount to be determined) and referred the matter to the North Carolina State Bar. Flag: this is a magistrate judge's Order and Memorandum and Recommendation, not a confirmed final order from the district judge. Note: the metadata's "1 USD" figure is unsupported by the order; no dollar amount is fixed in the document.
How it could have been avoided
A warning after a first offense is the last free lesson. Verify every authority after the warning, or expect the second offense to convert a warning into a fee award and a bar referral.
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