BUSTED: TCPA Defense Lawyer Caught Using GenAI– Federal Judge Likely to Issue Sanctions

Add a comment

Troutman Amin, LLP was the first law firm in the nation to ban GenAI usage for any substantive legal work– and 18 months later that decision looks absolutely brilliant as the firm’s reputation and client base skyrocket.

On the other hand a lot of hack lawyers out there are still relying on GenAi to write briefs and conduct legal research–hoping LLM software can do a better job of lawyering than they can. Really a terrible (and embrassing) thing.

Just a matter of time before disbarments follow since these folks are literally failing to do the job their clients have paid them to do– the ultimate form of disloyalty (and incompetence.)

For now the federal courts will continue playing whack-a-mole and sanctioning improper GenAI usage as they find it.

For instance in Whitfield v. Prime Agency,  2:26-cv-00327-AMP (E.D. Pa. Sept. 18, 2026) a defense attorney in a TCPA class action– DEFINITELY not Troutman Amin, LLP– was found to have submitted a brief with SIX inaccurate citations (some to made up cases and some, more troublingly, citing to real cases but for propositions the case does not stand for.)

The Court called the lawyer out for it and the lawyer apologized–claiming he filed the wrong draft with the court– and then proceeded to file a revised brief that had another false citation.

Soooooo not good.

The Court has set an order to show cause why the lawyer should not be sanctioned under applicable rules requiring attorneys to only file briefs that have actual legal support:

“Defense counsel’s conduct raises substantial questions regarding potential violation of Fed. R. Civ. P. 11(b)(2) and Pa. R.P.C. 3.3 by citing authorities that do not exist, and attributing quotations that do not exist to authorities that do, as set forth above.”

We will learn his fate following a hearing in October.

These “federal judge sanctions lawyer for using GenAI” decisions have come down so frequently lately that I do not even cover them unless they happen in TCPA cases.

Word to the wise– do NOT use GenAi for legal work.

Of course the wise would not consider doing that in the first place.

Also if you’d like a copy of the most comprehensive TCPA guide in the country (totally free and totally NOT written by AI) feel free to request a copy of the Troutman Amin, LLP TCPA Annual Review (2026), presented by Contact Center Compliance (now part of Sonera).

Chat soon!

Discover more from TCPAWorld

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Categories:

Published by Eric "Czar" Troutman

The Czar of TCPAWorld Eric Troutman is one of the country’s prominent class action defense lawyers and is nationally recognized in Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) litigation and compliance. He has served as lead defense counsel in more than 70 national TCPA class actions and has litigated nearly a thousand individual TCPA cases in his role as national strategic litigation counsel for major banks and finance companies. He also helps industry participants build TCPA-compliant processes, policies, and systems. Eric has built a national litigation practice based upon deep experience, rigorous analysis and extraordinary responsiveness. Eric and his team feel equally at home litigating multibillion dollar telecommunications class actions in federal court as they do developing and executing national litigation strategies for institutions facing an onslaught of individual TCPA matters. They thrive in each of these roles – delivering consistently excellent results – while never losing sight of the client experience. While many firms now tout TCPA expertise, Eric has been there from the beginning. He built one of the country’s first TCPA-only defense teams and began serving as national TCPA counsel for his clients nearly a decade ago. This perspective allows him to swiftly develop the right litigation strategies for dealing with recurring problems, without wasting time on tactics that are bound to fail. Eric’s rich historical perspective and encyclopedic knowledge of the TCPA landscape also make him an invaluable resource to institutional compliance teams struggling to comply with the shifting regulatory landscape. No task is too small – or too big. Indeed, Eric and his team have helped build TCPA-compliant systems and processes for some of the largest and most complex corporate entities in the country. He commonly works with in-house compliance counsel to build and implement enterprise and business-line specific TCPA solutions, performs TCPA audits and drafts and reviews proposed TCPA policies and procedures. He and his team also have the technical expertise necessary to assist call centers seeking to develop TCPA-resistant call path architecture or to modify existing telephony and software integration to better insulate from potential TCPA exposure. Eric has built a reputation for thought leadership. An avid blogger and speaker, he has been at the forefront of the industry’s effort to push for clarity and a return to sanity for the TCPA for years. He was selected to advocate for the financial services industry on important TCPA issues before the Federal Communications Commission and co-authored the nation’s only comprehensive practice guide on TCPA defense. In his spare time, Eric leads defense teams representing banks and other financial services companies in consumer finance litigation matters. He has experience representing clients in UCC, TILA, RESPA FCRA, CCRA, CLRA, FDCPA, RFDCPA and FCCPA claims, as well as in fraud and bank operations issues.

Leave a Reply