District Court, M.D. Florida, 28 April 2026 to 1 May 2026. What the court wrote about citations that did not exist, in its own words, from 2 documents on file.
Retrieved · the text below was read from the source documents on that day.
What the court wrote
The passages in which the court addresses the fabricated authority, verbatim, by document. A bracketed ellipsis marks where a passage was cut for length; nothing else is changed.
Docket entry 51, 1 May 2026 · source · PDF · 3 pages
Docket text. ORDER: No later than May 5, 2026, Attorney Jeffrey Sullivan is ORDERED to provide his client, the School Board of Polk County, with a copy of the Court's Order to Show Cause (Doc. 48), Sullivan's Response (Doc. 50), and this Order (Doc. 51). No later than May 6, 2026, Sullivan shall provide notice to the Court that he has complied with the above directive. Signed by Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle on 5/1/2026. (PBH)
Case No. 8:25 -cv-2300-KKM-NHA VERRA MOBILITY CORPORATION et al., Defendants. ___________________________________ ORDER On April 28, 2026, I ordered lead counsel for the School Board of Polk County, Jeffrey Sullivan, to show cause as to why he should not be referred to the Florida Bar or otherwise sanctioned under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 for filing a motion to dismiss that included several misrepresentations of caselaw and citations to non-existent cases. See Order (Doc.
Docket entry 48, 28 April 2026 · source · PDF · 41 pages
Docket text. ORDER: The Polk County Sheriff's Office's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 30) is GRANTED. Counts I, II, III, and IV of the Complaint are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as against the Sheriff's Office. The Clerk is directed to TERMINATE the Polk County Sheriff's Office from this action. The School Board of Polk County's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 31) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Counts I, II, and IV of the Complaint are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as against the School Board . Verra Mobility Corporation's Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 33) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART. Counts I, II, IV, and V of the Complaint are DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE as against Verra Mobility Corporation. The School Board and Verra must file an answer to the Complaint no later than May 12, 2026. No later than May 12, 2026, lead counsel for the School Board is ordered to show cause why the Court should not impose sanctions, or refer the matter to the Florida Bar, based on the misrepresentations and citations to non-existent cases included in the School Board's motion. Signed by Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle on 4/28/2026. (PBH)
3d at 1211. 32 Although the School Board’s argument fails on its own terms, I note that its brief misrepresents multiple cases and hallucinates others. First, the School Board claims that the Eleventh Circuit in Pincus v.
2015). Misrepresenting caselaw and citing to non-existent cases is a violation of the Local Rules and the rules of professional conduct. See Local Rule 2.01(e); Florida Bar Rule 4-1.1; Florida Bar Rule 4-3.3; Florida Bar Rule 4 -8.4.
6. No later than May 12, 2026, lead counsel for the School Board is ordered to show cause why the Court should not impose sanctions, or refer the matter to the Florida Bar, based on the misrepresentations and citations to non-existent cases included in the School Board’s motion. ORDERED in Tampa, Florida, on April 28, 2026.
What the text mentions
Pattern matches on the documents' text. Each line is a fact that the text contains the words, not a finding about the case.
Tools namedChatGPT
Mentionsa warning or admonition
Mentionsa referral to a bar or disciplinary body
Mentionsdismissal
MentionsRule 11
Mentionssanctions
Mentionsan order to show cause
Dollar figures near "sanction", "fine", "pay" or "fees"$1, $131.00, $198.00, $225, $329.00, $336,, $500.00, $7.00
Where this fits
This page is a record, not legal advice. It quotes the documents on file and lists what their text mentions. Read the decision at the source before relying on it, and check whether a later order changed it.