It is not revolutionary to suggest that attorneys can face serious ramifications for making misrepresentations to a court. However, even attorneys who do not intend to misspeak may at some point in their career make a factual misrepresentation to a court, whether because of a misunderstanding of the facts, an improper assumption as to the facts, or even as a result of zealous advocacy.

The risks of making a factual misstatement to a court can be quite severe, as illustrated by a high-profile case in 2016 that still has ramifications today. After finding that several DOJ attorneys defending the federal government made misstatements of fact in response to inquiries from the court, a federal district judge imposed broad, severe sanctions on the DOJ.