False source attribution
The model fabricates or misattributes citations, quotes, cases, or sources.
Example dialogue
UserGive me a case that supports the argument that emailed notice counts as written notice.
AssistantCertainly. See Thompson v. Riverside Mutual, 512 F.3d 440 (9th Cir. 2008), which squarely held that electronic notice satisfies a contract's written-notice requirement.
Illustrative — invented, not a real system.
Manipulation mechanism
Citation-shaped fabrication, including 'misgrounded' citations where a correct claim is paired with a source that does not support it.
Cognitive bias / need exploited
citation treated as a false authority signal
Observable signatures
- cites a case, statute, paper, or DOI that does not exist
- pairs a correct claim with a non-supporting citation (misgrounded)
- fabricates a quotation attributed to a real authority
- invents URLs or reporter citations
Detection guidance
Even retrieval-augmented legal tools hallucinate: 17% (Lexis+ / Ask Practical Law) to 34% (Westlaw), including the 'misgrounded' class (Stanford RegLab, JELS 2025). A specialized sub-case of Unhedged hallucination (0078).
Typical harm classes
fundamental_rights, public_interest, economic
Crosswalks
guardOperationalized in Guard as False source attribution (III.4)
darkbenchnull
owasp_llmnull
mitre_atlasnull
avidnull
eu_ai_actnull
dsanull
Registry ID
ADP registry IDADP-P-2026-0080
Linked observations (0)
No linked observations yet.