Incident Tracker

Lnu v. Blanche, No. 24-4790 (9th Cir.)

suspension

The Ninth Circuit disciplined attorneys Mike Singh Sethi and William Rounds for filing immigration briefs with nonexistent cases, misattributed quotations and gross misrepresentations from AI hallucinations, then denying AI was the source. The panel suspended both from practice before the court for six months, fined each $2,500, and served its order on the State Bar of California.

Date of decision/order

2026-06-03

Court

US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Jurisdiction

US-FEDERAL

AI tool

Not identified in the record

Conduct

Attorneys Mike Singh Sethi and William Rounds, representing an immigration petitioner, filed briefs containing multiple nonexistent cases, misattributed quotations and gross misrepresentations of real authorities that were the product of generative-AI hallucinations. In a 'Motion to Correct' they characterized the fabrications as innocent typographical errors and affirmatively denied that generative AI might have been the source — a repeated failure of candor the panel found aggravating.

Consequence

USD 5,000

Regulatory outcome

State Bar of California: The Ninth Circuit ordered the Clerk to serve its disciplinary order on the State Bar of California and any other applicable licensing authorities for further proceedings as appropriate. No state-bar disposition is yet on record. (2026-06-03)