New York / Citation decisions
Cassata v Michael Macrina Architect, P.C.
Sup. Ct., Suffolk County
2026 NY Slip Op 26014
What happened
In a dispute arising from the collapse of a house during construction, the defendant opposed a motion to strike affirmative defenses. The opposition contained nonexistent decisions, nonexistent quotations and propositions unsupported by the cited authorities. Counsel denied using AI and said the material came from a brief found on Westlaw.
Supreme Court, Suffolk County, conducted a sanctions hearing and considered the obligations of both the submitting attorney and the supervising attorney. The decision treated the source of the copied material as no substitute for checking the authorities actually submitted. It also discussed the court system’s AI policy and collected other New York sanctions decisions in a chart.
Sanction or disposition
The opposition was stricken. The court imposed $1,000 on each of two attorneys and $8,000 in fees and costs against the firm.
From the opinion
“The message is clear: to avoid sanctions, lawyers must verify all submissions through a reputable authoritative source.”
“a court filing of nonexistent decisions, nonexistent quotations, and/or propositions of law that are not supported by cases cited is frivolous, unethical, and sanctionable conduct”