Lawyers have real bad day in court after citing fake cases made up by ChatGPT

Lawyers fined $5K and lose case after using AI chatbot "gibberish" in filings.

See full article...

 

[dahorns]

Fining the lawyers strikes me as appropriate (although far too light a penalty IMO), but tossing the case is a disservice to the client, who I'm sure had no role in the GPT fiasco. Tossing it on the merits or on statute of limitations grounds isn't an issue, but if it was really a way to penalize the lawyers? I can't agree with that.

It doesn't sound like the dismissal was a sanction on the case, but rather a result of the underlying SOL issue.

 

[dahorns]

Even if you buy the "I didn't know the chatbot was lying", I am shocked the punishment isn't harsher for any one of the below:

1) Doubling down on the lie
2) Submitting a brief written by a different lawyer not allowed to practice in this venue as your own work
3) Lying about being on vacation to cover up #2

Is it that commonplace for lawyers to lie to judges, beyond possibly lies of omission?

I don't think #2 is a big deal. This sort of arrangement is pretty common. But once you submit the work product of someone else, you take ownership of it.