Associated Incidents
Two attorneys defending Mike Lindell, My Pillow entrepreneur, in a defamation suit have been fined for failing to verify artificial intelligence-generated information in a legal filing.
- Lawyers failed to certify claims and defenses in brief
- Filing had AI-generated fake cases and misquotes
Lawyers defending My Pillow Inc. founder Mike Lindell in a defamation lawsuit brought by a former Dominion Voting Systems executive were sanctioned Monday by a federal judge for their misuse of artificial intelligence in their legal filings.
Judge Nina Y. Wang said sanctions were warranted due to the attorneys’ violation of Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The order from the US District Court for the District of Colorado said the lawyers had failed to reasonably certify AI-generated claims, defenses, and legal contentions in their opposition to a motion in limine.
“This Court derives no joy from sanctioning attorneys who appear before it,” Wang said in her order. “Indeed, federal courts rely upon the assistance of attorneys as officers of the court for the efficient and fair administration of justice.” Still, she imposed twin fines of $3,000, payable by Aug. 4.
The case alleges Lindell spread conspiracy theories involving the 2020 election and voter fraud, defaming Eric Coomer, then Dominion’s director of product strategy and security at Dominion Voting Systems.
Lindell lawyers, Christopher Kachouroff of McSweeny Cynkar & Karchouroff PLLC and co-counsel Jennifer DeMaster had submitted a brief in response Coomer’s motion containing numerous errors including fake cases, misquotes, and misrepresentations of legal principles, according to the court.
When asked about the errors, the attorneys said they failed to check the filing for errors after using AI, that they’d inadvertently filed a draft of their opposition papers rather than the final version and offered conflicting accounts of how the mistakes occurred. Wang also noted the attorneys had filed two notices of errata in a Wisconsin case addressing similar issues just days after she issued an order to show cause asking them to explain their conduct in the case before her.
Rejecting their explanations, Wang said sanctions were warranted because the lawyers were “not reasonable in certifying that the claims, defenses and other legal contentions” made in the filing “were warranted by existing law.”
The judge imposed fines of $3,000 on Kachouroff and his firm jointly and $3,000 on DeMaster, ordering them paid by by August 4.
Kachouroff and DeMaster didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Coomer is represented by Cain & Skarnulis PLLC, Recht & Kornfeld PC, and Wright Close & Barger LLP.
The case is Coomer v. Lindell et al., D. Colo., No. 1:22-cv-01129, 7/7/25.