AI citations cost lawyers $110,000 in Jacksonville vineyard lawsuit
Published 11:32 am Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Woman sought $12 million after suing her two brothers over control of Valley View Winery; she plans to appeal ruling
A federal judge in Oregon squashed a Rogue Valley vineyard lawsuit after determining that two lawyers’ AI-assisted court filings were replete with citations from non-existent cases — and one lawyer had attempted a “cover-up” when the bogus material was uncovered.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark D. Clarke imposed a total of $110,000 in fines and attorneys’ fees against the two lawyers, who represented a woman suing her two brothers for control of the Valley View Winery and tasting room in Jacksonville.
Clarke ordered the woman’s lawsuit dismissed with prejudice — meaning it can’t be refiled — ruling that an artificial intelligence tool had once again led human minds astray.
The record-smashing penalty came to light Tuesday following an announcement from the two brothers, Mike and Mark Wisnovsky, who were sued by their sister, Joanne Couvrette.
The suit, filed in 2021, claimed the Wisnovskys had conned their elderly mother into signing over control of the vineyard in 2015 while her health was in rapid decline. Couvrette sought $12 million, alleging elder abuse and wrongful enrichment.
“For five years we have been dealing with defending our mother’s wishes. We are glad to have this behind us,” the brothers said in a statement.
Reached by phone, Couvrette said she plans to appeal the ruling and declined to comment further.
The six-figure hammerblow for A.I. errors is the largest ever imposed by an Oregon federal judge. By comparison, the state’s appellate court’s largest fine topped out at $10,000.
“In the quickly expanding universe of cases involving sanctions for the misuse of artificial intelligence, this case is a notorious outlier in both degree and volume,” Clarke wrote in a Dec. 12 opinion. “Plaintiffs and their counsel have not been adequately forthcoming, candid or apologetic about their conduct.”
San Diego-based attorney Stephen Brigandi, a former corporate lawyer for Jack in the Box, joined the case in 2024 and agreed to work for free because his son was dating Couvrette’s daughter, according to Clarke’s opinion.
In his opinion, the judge said there was “circumstantial” but “persuasive” evidence showing that Couvrette may have generated the AI briefs herself, given her history as a self-represented litigant. But Clarke ultimately ruled it was the attorneys who signed their names to the material.
The judge ordered Brigandi to pay $80,000 of the other side’s attorneys’ fees, plus $15,000 in fines for 15 references to made-up cases and eight fabricated citations.
Brigandi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Court filings submitted by his doctor show Brigandi was suffering from severe kidney disease while involved in the case, which can impact cognitive function.
Clarke, however, said Brigandi had tried to conceal the AI errors once they were flagged by the brothers’ attorneys, saying Brigandi “deceptively” deleted the false references and refiled his argument, without explaining what actually happened.
“Rather than a correction, Mr. Brigandi attempted a cover-up. He failed at both,” Clarke wrote in the opinion. “There is no evidence that Mr. Brigandi took any steps to verify the veracity of the legal arguments.”
In a follow-up ruling issued last month, Clarke ordered the other attorney in the case, Portland lawyer Tim Murphy, to pay $14,000 in additional attorney’s fees. Murphy served a procedural role in the case, as Brigandi was not licensed to practice in Oregon.
Nevertheless, the judge said the law “requires local counsel to provide more than an OSB number and a signature,” referring to the Oregon State Bar.
Murphy, primarily a landlord attorney, said in an email Tuesday that it was understandable why Clarke had imposed sanctions despite his limited involvement.
“I did not write, review, research, sign or submit the briefs with AI citations,” he said. “I am more than very sorry for my involvement in this matter.”