Lee v. R&R Home Care, Inc.
U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana · E.D. La. · Louisiana bar guidance
Verified April 26, 2026
- Citation
- Lee v. R&R Home Care, Inc., No. 24-836, 2025 WL 2481375 (E.D. La. Aug. 28, 2025)
- Decided
- August 28, 2025
Summary
Plaintiffs' counsel David C. Pellegrin used Google Gemini to draft a memorandum opposing a motion to dismiss and filed it without verifying the AI-generated authorities. Judge Susie Morgan identified a fabricated case citation to "Roman Catholic Church of Archdiocese of New Orleans v. Louisiana Health Serv. & Indem. Co.," No. 20-1361, 2021 WL 1080684, along with a quotation falsely attributed to Hermann Hospital v. MEBA Medical & Benefits Plan, 959 F.2d 569 (5th Cir. 1992). Pellegrin admitted under oath that he knew AI can hallucinate but filed the brief without confirming the cited authorities existed.
- AI tool:
- Google Gemini
- Sanction amount:
- $1,000
What sanction did the court impose?
$1,000 personal sanction against Pellegrin, payable from his own funds (not the firm or clients), and referral to the Disciplinary Committee of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana under that court's Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement.
Why does Lee v. R&R Home Care, Inc. matter for law firms using AI?
Lee is the second E.D. Louisiana sanctions order in fifteen days citing Rule 11(b)(2) for AI-fabricated authority, following Nora v. M&A Transport (Aug. 13, 2025), and one of the first published orders naming Google Gemini as the offending tool. Judge Morgan credited Pellegrin’s candor, clean twelve-year record, and post-hoc CLE remediation as mitigation, but held that personal history and remorse do not eliminate the need for sanction and disciplinary referral, an important benchmark for managing partners weighing what an “honest mistake” defense is worth when the underlying duty is simply to read the cases counsel cites.
Sources
Further reading
Source PDF is a Westlaw printout mirrored from the Damien Charlotin hallucination database. We are working to add the underlying court docket (PACER, CourtListener, or court website) as a second source.