By Sama Marwan,
A U.S. federal judge has stated she is considering imposing sanctions on lawyers from a high-priced law firm hired to defend Alabama’s prison system.
Federal Judge Anna Manasco revealed during a hearing in Birmingham, Michigan (in the northeastern U.S.), that one of the lawyers used ChatGPT to prepare two legal briefs that included references to non-existent citations.
Judge Anna Manasco held the hearing in Birmingham to question lawyers from the “Butler Snow” firm regarding these legal briefs.
She stated that there have been widespread national warnings from courts about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in preparing legal briefs, due to the potential for inaccurate information.
Manasco clarified that she is considering a range of potential sanctions, including imposing fines, and has given the firm 10 days to submit a legal memorandum to the court.
The lawyers from Butler Snow offered repeated apologies during the hearing, stating that one of the firm’s partners, Matt Reeves, used ChatGPT to search for legal precedents to support their position, but failed to verify the accuracy of that information before adding it to the briefs submitted to the court.
It was later discovered that these references were “hallucinations” – erroneous citations generated by the AI system.
Four lawyers, including Reeves, signed the documents that contained this misinformation.
In their response to the judge, the firm’s lawyers wrote: “Butler Snow is embarrassed by what happened, which was an act contrary to sound judgment and company policy… There is no excuse for using ChatGPT as a source for legal precedents without verifying the validity of the sources it provides, even if it is to support established legal principles.”
Reeves told the judge: “I alone bear responsibility for the erroneous legal citations, and I hope you do not punish my colleagues for it.”
