Litigant “Doubled Down” When Opponent Found Hallucinations—It Can’t “Amend Them Away”

Youssian v. Village of Kings Point, 2026 WL 2795230 (Supreme Ct., Nassau Co., N.Y. Sep. 9, 2026), is an example of what not to do when an opponent points out that you cited hallucinated authorities in your lengthy Petition.  “The 64-page petition was accompanied by a 46-page memorandum of law in support.”

Counsel blamed the hallucinations on the use of Spellbook AI. On its website, Spellbook describes itself as: “The first AI system that powers contracts end-to-end….”

In summary, respondents notified petitioner that they found hallucinated authorities in connection with the Petition. Petitioner denied the allegation, “doubled down,” and counter-punched with a threatening response.

Petitioner later amended the Petition and admitted to hallucinations that it claimed were due to its use of Spellbook AI.  The court imposed monetary sanctions, awarded attorneys’ fees, and struck the amended Petition, writing that, what the court described as “fraud,” cannot be amended away.  The court appeared to leave open the door for a bona fide amendment.

THE “GLASS HOUSES” PRINCIPLE

Counter-punching may be problematical.  Another court recently advised: “A well-known proverb warns those who live in a glass house not to throw stones. What Plaintiffs did here is worse than that. The proverb assumes a rough parity — two flawed parties, each exposed, the hypocrite merely imprudent for hurling what could be hurled back. That is not what happened here. Plaintiffs did not throw stones from a glass house at another glass house. They stood inside a house made entirely of glass, pointed at the brick house across the street, and declared that structure the fragile one…. Each charge, however, was not merely overstated, but rather exactly backwards.”  Glass Houses Proverb—Don’t Throw Stones and Invective (Jul. 14, 2026)(citation omitted).

FACTS AND THE COUNTER-PUNCH

In this challenge to an administrative decision, the court set the stage as follows:

Unfortunately, shortly after commencement, issues regarding the contents of the petition and accompanying memorandum of law became the subject of litigation rather than the underlying merits. The short yet storied history of the case is as follows. On May 15, 2026, counsels for respondents informed counsel for petitioners, Thomas A. Bizzaro, Esq., that the petition and accompanying memorandum of law contained a myriad of false citations to legal authority using artificial intelligence (”AI”). A more detailed description of the hallucinated citations is contained infra. After discovering the AI errors, respondents requested that Mr. Bizzaro respond with an explanation and/or withdraw the petition; otherwise, they would notify the Court and seek sanctions, including striking the pleadings. Mr. Bizzaro responded to counsels with an eight-page letter, the sum and substance of which was a categorical denial. Mr. Bizzaro stated that his firm undertook a full citation audit in response to respondents’ concerns. His firm identified seven issues which were minor citation and misapplication issues and did not involve fabricated authority. Mr. Bizzaro stressed that the errors were inadvertent and that opposing counsels failed to identify any specific erroneous citation. He rejected respondents’ request that he withdraw the petition as well as any threat of sanctions. In fact, Mr. Bizzaro threatened to seek sanctions and attorney’s fees himself, stating that the unfounded accusations by respondents violated Section 130-1.1 of the NY Compilation of Codes, Rules, and Regulations (”NYCRR”). [emphasis added].

The parties agreed to meet and confer. However:

Prior to that meeting, Mr. Bizzaro filed a letter to the Court, explaining all of the foregoing and annexing the correspondence between the attorneys. In conclusion, Mr. Bizzaro requested a conference with the Court. Thereafter, the Court learned that the May 18, 2026 meeting between the attorneys was unsuccessful. On May 18, 2026 and May 19, 2026 respondents filed additional letters to the docket, which laid out the purported fraud contained in the petition.

THE ADMISSION AND DEFECTIVE AMENDED PETITION

Respondents demanded withdrawal of the petition.  Mr. Bizzaro refused, offered to pay reasonable attorneys fees, and “informed the respondents he would be filing an amended petition and proceeding with the action….”

After a court conference, Mr. Bizzaro filed an amended petition. However, the court wrote: “A review of the 55 page petition reveals that it is essentially the same petition, which was filed upon commencement, less citation to the purported fraudulent legal authority as well as a few additional minor changes.”

Petitioner’s attorney also wrote to the court and the “letter conceded for the first time that the original petition contained ‘AI-citation errors.’ …  Mr. Bizzaro stated that he offered to reimburse respondents for their reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs in connection with the ‘letter exchanges and virtual conference.’”

Next, “Respondents both informed the Court of their intention to file a motion to strike the pleadings and for sanctions. Mr. Bizzaro responded to the foregoing by filing correspondence on June 2, 2026. Petitioner’s letter argues that there was no prejudice suffered as a result of the citation errors, that the amended petition was filed as a matter of right, and that his offer to reimburse respondents for fees and costs incurred in connection with the letter exchanges and the conference remains.”

THE COURT HEARING

The court held a hearing:

At the hearing, Mr. Bizzaro conceded that the underlying commencement documents contained citations to “hallucinated” quotations. He explained that his firm, of which he is the sole principal, uses Lexis and Westlaw. The subscription to Westlaw contains certain AI tools which are linked to Microsoft Word. The program, “Spellbook AI,” is a tool embedded into Microsoft Word. It was represented to Mr. Bizzaro that the AI-tool enhanced writing and detected drafting errors. He was informed that Spellbook AI did not provide legal authorities or citations to work product, but only enhanced drafting. Mr. Bizzaro reviewed the petition prior to commencement but did not “re-run a cite check,” after accepting the changes made by Spellbook AI. Mr. Bizzaro was apologetic and explained the steps he and his office have taken to ensure this does not happen again. Mr. Bizzaro has discontinued his subscription to Spellbook AI and has changed his office policy so that he is the only individual permitted to use AI features. Additionally, Mr. Bizzaro informed the Court that he has registered with the National Academy of Continuing Legal Education for classes dealing with AI issues in the court system. [emphasis added].

The court described the use of AI as “all but unavoidable.”  However, it also wrote, misuse has become a “reoccurring problem….” It found that “petitioners included quotations from at least five otherwise legitimate cases which were either entirely fabricated, or which were altered from their original versions.” It added: “The nationwide imposition of monetary sanctions in similar cases ranges from mere warnings to tens of thousands of dollars….”

APOLOGIZING AFTER “DOUBLING DOWN” & COUNTER-PUNCHING

Instead of counter-punching, the court suggested that Petitioner should have gone “hat in hand” to Respondents.  The court wrote that, while five citations were inaccurate, the remainder were “legitimate,” and Mr. Bizzaro “apologized at length….”  He had explained the error and taken remedial action.

Nevertheless:

Importantly, when Mr. Bizzaro was confronted by counsel for respondents about the fabricated cases, he chose to essentially “double down” rather than to admit to the mistake. Mr. Bizzaro contends that he never denied the use of AI and his response was merely a “preliminary reply under extreme time constraints.” The Court disagrees. The May 16, 2026 response from Mr. Bizzaro was a detailed eight-page letter where counsel argued that there were no fabricated, hallucinated, or erroneous quotations or citations identified by respondents, that he had undertaken a detailed review of all citations, and essentially only identified what he labeled “discrete errors.” Mr. Bizzaro then demanded that respondents identify any inaccuracies and bring them to his attention. Mr. Bizzaro concluded by stating that the accusations levied and the threat of sanctions, absent any proof of wrongdoing, raised an issue of respondents’ good faith and frivolous conduct which may warrant an application by him for sanctions and attorney’s fees. The Court mentions the foregoing only to emphasize that Mr. Bizzaro’s time would have been better spent combing his petition, which very well may have eliminated the need for his letter. [emphasis added].

It added:

In any event, what ensued was months of back and forth between the parties, a “meet and confer” with all counsels, extensive letter practice to the Court, two court appearances, and a substantial amount of work undertaken by all parties. This could have been easily avoided had Mr. Bizzaro acknowledged the fabrications and approached the dispute with hat in hand. Indeed, as discussed supra, Mr. Bizzaro threatened to request sanctions upon the respondents when they broached the issue of these hallucinations. For this reason, the Court finds that Mr. Bizzaro’s conduct was egregious and qualifies as a more significant violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct than it would otherwise. [emphasis added].

MONETARY AWARD

The court awarded a $5,000 sanction plus $10,000 for attorney’s fees, explaining:  “Respondents identified the fabrications, the parties engaged in significant letter practice, which included considerable research, the parties appeared before the Court for a conference on May 19, 2026 and a hearing on July 22, 2026, the respondents filed their respective motions to dismiss the petition and amended petition, and the petitioners filed their opposition papers.”

DENIAL OF THE AMENDMENT: CAN’T “AMEND AWAY” HALLUCINATIONS

It then turned to a novel issue, specifically, respondents’ dismissal argument—that the original petition was defective and the amended petition was essentially a cut and paste, minus the erroneous citations.

Generally, the pleadings rule provides that an amended complaint supersedes the original…. The question is whether this principle should apply where the underlying petition is essentially permeated with fraud and petitioner seeks to amend solely to cure those defects. This Court’s research reveals that this question, under these circumstances, has not been previously addressed. Specifically: can a petitioner amend his or her pleadings as a matter of right to correct defects in the underlying petition where the allegations contained therein were at least partially based upon hallucinated citations to legal authority? This Court concludes that the principle does not apply where the original pleading is permeated with fraud, and the fraud cannot simply be amended away. [emphasis added].

The court found that the first pleading was permeated by fraud. “Petitioners used multiple bogus quotations from the case and submitted a lengthy argument in support based thereon….  Accordingly, after reviewing the cases and the original pleadings, the Court can only conclude that a significant portion of the legal arguments which formed the cornerstone for this specific proceeding were based upon fraudulent legal authority, such that the pleadings were permeated with fraud.”

It then wrote: “The next question the Court must determine is whether petitioners are entitled to amend the petition to remediate the defects. This Court finds that they are not.” [emphasis added].  It cited a prior decision in which the court found sanctionable conduct and rejected a request for a “redo.” It wrote:

Aside from striking the amended petition as a sanction, the Court finds that permitting the petitioners to “amend away” the fraud here would be an improvident exercise of discretion for two reasons. The first reason is that the fraud and the pleadings are inseparable. This is not a matter where a party merely cited to a few fictitious cases. Rather, a significant foundation of this Article 78 proceeding was premised on the reliance of hallucinated quotations and bogus legal authority. Moreover, the amended petition is essentially a replica of the original petition, less the hallucinated quotations. The amended petition includes assertions premised upon the fabricated legal authority. Second, public policy bars the amended petition from standing. Permitting the amendment would effectively reward careless legal drafting, and allow litigants to include false, misleading, and inaccurate allegations in their pleadings with the expectation that they could simply correct the defects through an amendment. As an aside, this Court also gives credence to the respondents’ argument that permitting the amendment would require the respondents and the Court to essentially “Frankenstein” the 55-page petition to determine which allegations are based in legitimate law and which are not. This is an undue burden that the Court refuses to impose. [emphasis added].

The court struck the amended petition, but declined to dismiss with prejudice.  Presumably, this left open the possibility of a new amendment.

ONE LAST ISSUE

The court addressed one last issue: “In light of the foregoing, the Court need not reach the issue of the assertion that the signatures contained in the amended verified petition were falsely notarized. Briefly, the original verified petition includes a signature of petitioner Bobby Zargari, which was notarized by Mr. Bizzaro’s legal assistant on May 8, 2026. The amended verified petition dated May 20, 2026 is also signed by Zargari and notarized by Mr. Bizzaro’s legal assistant. A side-by-side review of the signatures reveals that they appear to be identical, and at the hearing petitioner admitted to reusing the original signature. Under ordinary circumstances, the Court would have set this matter down for a hearing on this specific issue. However, after reviewing the papers and addressing the matter on the record, the Court declines to render a decision on the issue of fraud regarding the notarization in light of its determination to issue sanctions and strike the petition and amended petition.” [emphasis added].

CONCLUSION

The denial of the right to amend in Youssian is not a unicorn.  For another decision denying amendment after disclosure of hallucinations, please see A Request to Refile Brief to Correct Hallucinations Was Denied (Aug. 30, 2026)(“we are denying the motion to withdraw the Opening Brief….”).

Sometimes, there is a duty to “’fess up.”  In a different context, please see Is There a Duty to “’Fess Up?” – Part II (Nov. 12, 2022).  Lack of Candor is “Always a bad idea.” (Jul. 13, 2026).

For a discussion of counter-punching in a different context, please see Rule 11 Sanctions for Impugning Character of Opposing Counsel (Apr. 20, 2022); Fraudulent or Unsupported Allegations of Misuse of A.I. Can be Sanctionable (Jun. 25, 2026); Conclusory (False?) Accusations of Using False Case Citations Are Sanctionable (Apr. 12, 2026).