Incident Tracker / United States (federal)
Parnell v. Florida Department of Corrections, No. 25-11166 (11th Cir.)
·US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·US-FEDRegulatory referral
On the same day as Akerlund v. Atlas Air, another panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment against a prison employee and referred his lawyer for discipline after a reply brief cited two nonexistent cases and five invented quotations. The court noted Florida's new Rule 2.515(d)(2) certification requirement for cited authorities.
- Court
- US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- Date
- 2026-07-10
- Who used the AI
- Lawyer
- AI tool
- Not identified in the record
- Conduct
- Attorney Dufirstson J. Neree's reply brief cited two nonexistent opinions and at least five fabricated quotations attributed to Eleventh Circuit cases. Ordered to file supplemental briefing, he offered no explanation. The court struck the reply brief in part and granted the department's sanctions motion with costs.
- Outcome
- Regulatory referral
- Penalty
- No monetary penalty recorded
- Regulatory outcome
- Eleventh Circuit Committee on Lawyer Qualifications and Conduct: Counsel referred to the Committee on Lawyer Qualifications and Conduct. No disposition on record. (2026-07-10)
- Status
- Verified against listed sources
- Last checked
- 2026-09-03
What was fabricated or misused
- Two non-existent court opinions and at least five non-existent quotations from Eleventh Circuit opinions in the reply brief — the court did not list them
What the court said
“The FDOC argues that Parnell’s reply brief cites two non-existent court opinions and at least five non-existent quotations from our opinions.”
“Counsel does not provide an explanation for how the opinions appeared in the reply brief.”
“The FDOC’s motion to strike the relevant portions of Parnell’s reply brief is GRANTED.”
“we refer attorney Dufirstson J. Neree to the Committee on Lawyer Qualifications and Conduct for any disciplinary actions that the Committee deems appropriate.”
Timeline
- Florida Supreme Court amended Rule 2.515(d)(2) to require certification that cited legal authorities exist.
- Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment against Parnell.
- Court struck relevant parts of the reply brief and awarded FDOC fee entitlement.
- Court referred Dufirstson J. Neree to the Committee on Lawyer Qualifications and Conduct.
Why this case matters
Parnell is the same-day counterpart to Akerlund in the Eleventh Circuit, but the procedural posture is different. The false material appeared in a reply brief after summary judgment, and counsel was given a supplemental chance to explain its source. The opinion records no explanation beyond withdrawal of erroneous statements. The court still granted fee entitlement, struck the defective parts and made a disciplinary referral. In the tracker, it shows an appellate court treating unexplained fake authority as a lawyer-qualification issue even when the merits ruling did not depend on the fabricated material.
Practice note
A reply brief needs the same cite check as an opening brief. If an opponent identifies nonexistent cases or quotations, counsel should stop relying on them, locate the actual source, and explain the error in a supplemental filing. After Florida Rule 2.515(d)(2), a filing signature also certifies that cited legal authorities exist and are accurately cited.
Primary sources for this incident
Related regulation records for this incident
No related regulation record has been linked to this incident yet.
Similar incidents on the record
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Cite this record
SafeLegalAI Global Legal AI Incident Tracker, “Parnell v. Florida Department of Corrections, No. 25-11166 (11th Cir.)”, safelegalai.com/tracker/parnell-v-florida-doc (accessed 2026-10-07). Data: CC BY 4.0.