Davis v. Marion County Superior Court Juvenile Detention Center, et al.
“Filing documents with fake citations generated by AI reflects an unprecedented form of personal detachment from attorney work product and this Court's professional licensing standards…”
The court, in Davis v. Marion County Superior Court Juvenile Detention Center, et al.
The case
S.D. Ind., No. 1:24-cv-01918, order on Report and Recommendation May 20, 2026, on an R&R by Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore. Primary order: https://www.damiencharlotin.com/documents/2191/Davis_v._Marion_Country_Juvenile_DC_USA_20_May_2026.pdf ; background: https://reason.com/volokh/2025/09/05/7500-sanctions-for-nonexistent-citations-in-brief-magistrate-judge-stresses-cite-checking-isnt-a-new-obligation/?comments=true
What happened
Attorney Tae Sture filed a brief containing two citations he conceded do not exist. He blamed a three-day deadline and said his paralegal (a formerly licensed attorney) drafted the brief, which he filed at 11:00 p.m. on the due date without careful review, though he subscribed to Lexis and could have checked the citations in minutes. He later argued the recommended $7,500 sanction was excessive and that a disciplinary referral alone would suffice.
The rule and the sanction
The magistrate judge recommended a $7,500 personal sanction, referral to the chief judge, and client notification. Judge Olson rejected the finding of an Indiana ethics-rule violation, adopted the Rule 11 analysis, but reduced the sanction to $2,000 payable to the Clerk of Court within 30 days, citing mitigating circumstances and Seventh Circuit guidance (Dec v. Mullin) counseling modesty where errors were few and the attorney accepted responsibility. "Filing documents with fake citations generated by AI reflects an unprecedented form of personal detachment from attorney work product and this Court's professional licensing standards," Olson wrote.
How it could have been avoided
Delegating drafting to staff does not delegate the signature: the signer must verify, and having Lexis but not using it hurts more than not having it. Objecting to a recommended sanction can reduce the amount, but not the Rule 11 violation itself.