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In re M.H., M.L., and M.H., Minors

Appellate Court of Illinois, First District · State appellate courts · IL · · 2026 IL App (1st) 250013-U · No. 25-0013 · order

On 2026-05-28, in In re M.H., M.L., and M.H., Minors, Appellate Court of Illinois, First District ordered mother to show cause within fourteen days why sanctions should not be imposed for fictitious authorities. Counsel filed a response using nonexistent or hallucinated authorities and authorities used for propositions they did not support.

Disposition
The court ordered mother to show cause within fourteen days why sanctions should not be imposed for fictitious authorities.
Recorded conduct
Counsel filed a response using nonexistent or hallucinated authorities and authorities used for propositions they did not support. — outcome: pending; actor: lawyer
Canonical record
Incident tracker entry — verified outcome, regulator disposition and related rules

What the court wrote

Verbatim from the court's document (public domain). Ellipses mark omitted text; nothing is paraphrased.

The Public Guardian points out that, throughout her brief, the Mother misstates the facts or holdings of cases she citedinsupportofherarguments,incorrectlycitesothers,and referencescasesthatdonotexist.ThePublicGuardianargues that the Mother's reliance on fictitious case holdings violates Illinois Supreme Court Rule 341(h)(7) (eff. Oct. 1, 2020) and asks us to find the Mother's arguments forfeited. “ ‘[B]ecause the merits of the case can be ascertained from the record and we have the benefit of *** cogent brief[s]’ from the State and the Public Guardian, we will consider the merits” of the Mother's arguments. In re Es. C., 2021 IL App (1st) 210197, ¶ 13 (quoting Antonson v. Department of Human Services, 2021ILApp(1st)192272-U,¶18).However,simultaneously with this decision, we issued a rule to show cause order to the Mother's counsel, requiring her to file a response addressing these issues. In the event we find sanctions are warranted, we will issue a separate written order imposing the sanction. In re M.H., M.L., and M.H., Minors (The People of the State of Illinois, Petitioner-Appellee,..., Not Reported in N.E. Rptr.

Authorities cited in the passage: Antonson v. Department of Human Services, 2021ILApp(1st) · Rule 341(h)(7)

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