Appeals court refers a lawyer who cited fake AI cases twice

Aviation workers sued Atlas Air and a contractor over pandemic vaccine, testing and mask rules. Their lawyer's opening brief at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals cited at least eight cases that do not exist, including one supposedly from that court. After Atlas flagged them, the lawyer filed a late reply that tried to withdraw eight authorities. None matched the fake cases in his brief, and all eight were hallucinated too. On July 10, 2026, the court upheld the dismissal of the suit. It found the lawyer had handed his legal work to an AI algorithm and referred him to its lawyer conduct committee. The ABA Journal described the ruling as a reprimand.