A federal appeals court has ordered sanctions against lawyers who used AI to generate fake legal citations in a failed lawsuit targeting Meta. Nikko D'Ambrosio's case against Facebook, sparked by a critical post in a Chicago dating group, collapsed after judges discovered fictitious quotations in court filings.

The dispute began when Abbigail Rajala shared screenshots of D'Ambrosio's menacing texts in the "Are We Dating the Same Guy" Facebook group. D'Ambrosio, represented by MarcTrent.AI, sued Meta and multiple women, claiming defamation and doxing. His firm boasted about using AI to "increase legal success rates" and claimed Meta couldn't beat their technology.

Senior Judge David Hamilton ruled the appeal was frivolous and contained "mistakes and fictitious quotations" that "bear the hallmarks of the misuse of generative artificial intelligence." The court found the lawyers submitted sloppy work with fake citations that any competent attorney should have caught.

The ruling sets precedent for AI-generated legal malpractice cases. MarcTrent.AI now faces potential fines covering opposing counsel costs, marking one of the first major sanctions for AI-assisted legal work gone wrong.