A lawyer used ChatGPT and now has to answer for its ‘bogus’ citations

Lawyers suing the Colombian airline Avianca submitted a brief full of previous cases that were just made up by ChatGPT, The New York Times reported today. After opposing counsel pointed out the nonexistent cases, US District Judge Kevin Castel confirmed, “Six of the submitted cases appear to be bogus judicial decisions with bogus quotes and bogus internal citations,” and set up a hearing as he considers sanctions for the plaintiff’s lawyers.

Lawyer Steven A. Schwartz admitted in an affidavit that he had used OpenAI’s chatbot for his research. To verify the cases, he did the only reasonable thing: he asked the chatbot if it was lying.

When he asked for a source, ChatGPT went on to apologize for earlier confusion and insisted the case was real, saying it could be found on Westlaw and LexisNexis. Satisfied, he asked if the other cases were fake, and ChatGPT maintained they were all real.

The opposing counsel made the court aware of the issue in painful detail as it recounted how the Levidow, Levidow & Oberman lawyers’ submission was a brief full of lies. In one example, a nonexistent case called Varghese v. China Southern Airlines Co., Ltd., the chatbot appeared to reference another real case, Zicherman v. Korean Air Lines Co., Ltd.., but got the date (and other details) wrong, saying it was decided 12 years after its original 1996 decision.

Schwartz says he was “unaware of the possibility that its content could be false.” He now “greatly regrets having utilized generative artificial intelligence to supplement the legal research performed herein and will never do so in the future without absolute verification of its authenticity.”

Schwartz isn’t admitted to practice in the Southern District of New York but originally filed the lawsuit before it was moved to that court and says he continued to work on it. Another attorney at the same firm, Peter LoDuca, became the attorney of record on the case, and he will have to appear in front of the judge to explain just what happened.

24 thoughts on “A lawyer used ChatGPT and now has to answer for its ‘bogus’ citations

  1. Howdy would you mind letting me know which webhost you’re utilizing?
    I’ve loaded your blog in 3 different browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot faster then most.
    Can you recommend a good web hosting provider at a fair price?
    Thanks, I appreciate it!

  2. Wonderful website you have here but I was wanting to know if you knew of any
    forums that cover the same topics talked about here?

    I’d really like to be a part of community where I can get
    comments from other experienced people that share the
    same interest. If you have any suggestions, please let
    me know. Thanks!

  3. Greetings I am so delighted I found your webpage, I really found you by error,
    while I was searching on Askjeeve for something
    else, Anyhow I am here now and would just like to say cheers for a incredible post and a all round
    thrilling blog (I also love the theme/design), I
    don’t have time to look over it all at the minute but I have
    saved it and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back
    to read more, Please do keep up the great work.

  4. My partner and I stumbled over here by a different web address and thought I might as well
    check things out. I like what I see so now i am following you.
    Look forward to looking at your web page repeatedly.

  5. Hi! I understand this is sort of off-topic but I had to ask.
    Does operating a well-established website like
    yours take a massive amount work? I’m completely new to writing a
    blog but I do write in my diary on a daily basis. I’d like to start a blog so
    I can share my own experience and feelings online. Please let me
    know if you have any kind of recommendations
    or tips for brand new aspiring blog owners. Thankyou!

  6. 爆乳 ダッチワイフ こんにちは、私はあなたの投稿をすべて読むのを楽しんでいます。私はあなたをサポートするために少しコメントを書きたいと思いました。本当にホットなミスをしているような気分にさせることができる超セクシーなラブドール(セックスドール)があります。

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Copyright © 2024, ExpertWhitepaper. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy.