California appeals court fines a lawyer for AI-added fake quotes

A lawyer appealed a fee ruling in a Humboldt County lawsuit his client had won. The opening brief contained fictitious quotations, one presented as coming from the California Supreme Court, and miscited a case. In a declaration, the lawyer said his office uses generative AI with human checks, and blamed a mix-up with his paralegal. The court read his account as showing he had used generative AI to add case law during breaks in another trial, without planning to read those cases himself. On July 10, 2026, California's First District Court of Appeal ordered him to pay $1,500 and sent its opinion to the State Bar. He also had to give his client a copy.