Australian lawyer confesses using ChatGPT to create court filings
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Occurred: October 2024
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An Australian lawyer has been referred to the Office of the NSW Legal Services Commissioner after admitting to using ChatGPT to create court filings containing nonexistent case citations for an immigration case.
What happened
What happened
An unnamed lawyer submitted documents to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia that included case references and quotes fabricated - aka "hallucinated" - by ChatGPT, resulting in wasted court time as officials attempted to locate the non-existent cases.
The incident caused delays in the proceedings and required additional timetabling to allow for proper filing of amended documents.
Why it happened
Why it happened
The lawyer cited time constraints and health issues as reasons for relying on ChatGPT to generate a summary of cases without verifying the information's accuracy.
Their decision appeared to stem from a lack of understanding of the limitations of the chatbot and its technology, and of its proper use in legal practice.
What it means
What it means
The fracas saw the client's case compromised, potentially affecting its outcome. In addition, the court experienced unnecessary delays wasted resources, and cost.
The lawyer faces potential disciplinary action and damage to his professional reputation.
More broadly, it highlights the need for clear guidelines and training on the use of AI in the legal profession, and emphasises the importance of maintaining human oversight and verification in AI-assisted legal work.
System 🤖
System 🤖
Operator:
Developer: OpenAI
Country: Australia
Sector: Business/professional services
Purpose: Generate legal case citations
Technology: Chatbot; Generative AI; Machine learning
Issue: Accuracy/reliability; Mis/disinformation
Page info
Type: Incident
Published: February 2025
Page updated
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