Lawyer Apologizes For Fake Court Citations From ChatGPT
The rise of ChatGPT has had far-reaching consequences across various industries, and even the field of law has not been spared from its impact. A recent incident involving an attorney highlights the unexpected challenges posed by this AI technology.
Roberto Mata, who sued Avianca airlines over injuries he allegedly sustained from a serving cart during a flight in 2019, was represented by Steven Schwartz, an attorney with extensive experience in New York.
However, Judge Kevin Castel of the Southern District of New York discovered that at least six of the cases submitted by Schwartz as research for a brief were seemingly fictitious.
In an order dated May 4, Judge Castel described the situation as an unprecedented circumstance. The cases presented by Schwartz, including Varghese v. China South Airlines, Martinez v. Delta Airlines, Shaboon v. EgyptAir, Petersen v. Iran Air, Miller v. United Airlines, and Estate of Durden v. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, could not be found by the judge or the defense.
Schwartz, in an affidavit, admitted that he had never used ChatGPT as a legal research source prior to this case and was unaware of the possibility that its content could be false. He took responsibility for not verifying the chatbot’s sources.
As a result, Schwartz now faces a sanctions hearing scheduled for June 8. In a recent affidavit, he expressed deep regret for relying on generative artificial intelligence for legal research and pledged to never do so again without thorough verification of its authenticity.
In late April, Avianca’s attorneys from Condon & Forsyth questioned the authenticity of the cases in a letter to Judge Castel. In a separate affidavit filed by attorney Peter Loduca on Thursday, he stated that he had no reason to doubt Schwartz’s research and that he had played no role in it.
Earlier, on April 25, Schwartz was ordered to explain why he should not be sanctioned for using a false and fraudulent notarization in an affidavit.
In screenshots included in Schwartz’s recent affidavit, he can be seen asking ChatGPT about the authenticity of the Varghese case, with the chatbot affirming its existence. However, further inquiry into the source revealed the chatbot’s false claims.
The incident raises serious questions about the reliability of AI-generated information in legal research. CNN has reached out to both Schwartz and Loduca for comment on the matter.
