In the U.S., a federal court has disciplined three lawyers from the law firm Butler Snow and removed them from a case for submitting fabricated information generated by ChatGPT without verifying it. This incident highlights the significant risks of using artificial intelligence in high-stakes fields like law.
The lawyers, William Lunsford, Matthew Reeves, and William Cranford, were representing the state of Alabama in litigation concerning its prison system. The court found that they included made-up citations and incorrect information in their court filings. As a result, they were disbarred from the case and ordered to share the sanction with their clients, opposing counsel, and all judges in their other cases. A copy of the decision was also sent to the Alabama State Bar for potential disciplinary action.
Lack of Verification and Accountability
Butler Snow is a highly respected firm that has earned more than $40 million from the state of Alabama since 2020 alone. The lawyers admitted that they used ChatGPT for legal research and to find case precedents but failed to verify the information before including it in their filings. The fabricated information was deemed “extraordinarily reckless” by the judge.
This event serves as a serious warning about the need for extreme caution and due diligence when using AI tools in professional contexts, especially where accuracy and accountability are paramount.
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