AIster · The ChatGPT shock · Laws & rulings
Lawyers fined for citing cases ChatGPT invented
A brief full of made-up cases warned lawyers that chatbots can invent sources
Key facts
- Date
- 22 Jun 2023
- Era
- The ChatGPT shock
- Interest
- Laws & rulings
- Threads
- Safety & governance
- Case
- Mata v. Avianca, US District Court for the Southern District of New York
- Fake cases
- Six, including “Varghese v. China Southern Airlines”
- Penalty
- $5,000, jointly on Schwartz, LoDuca and Levidow, Levidow & Oberman
- Also ordered
- Letters to their client and to each judge named as author of a fake opinion
In a personal injury suit against the airline Avianca, lawyers filed a brief (a written legal argument) on 1 March 2023 citing six court decisions that did not exist; ChatGPT had made them up. Steven Schwartz admitted using the chatbot in a 25 May affidavit, and the story spread in the press days later. On 22 June Judge P. Kevin Castel imposed a $5,000 penalty on Schwartz, Peter LoDuca and their firm.
Sources
- US District Court for the Southern District of New York (via CourtListener), Mata v. Avianca, Inc., No. 22-cv-1461 (PKC), Opinion and Order on Sanctions (ECF 54), 2023-06-22
- NBC News, ChatGPT cited 'bogus' cases for a New York federal court filing. The attorneys involved may face sanctions., 2023-05-30
- CBS News, Lawyers fined for filing bogus case law created by ChatGPT, 2023-06-23