US judge suspends lawyers from trial for ChatGPT fictional court cases

An US judge has sanctioned attorneys from a prominent law firm representing Alabama’s prison system for submitting court documents that included “completely made up” case citations generated by the AI model ChatGPT.

US District Judge Anna Manasco issued a public reprimand to three lawyers from Butler Snow, the firm hired to represent Alabama and other states in prison-related lawsuits, Caliber.Az reports citing AP. 

“Fabricating legal authority is serious misconduct that demands a serious sanction,” Judge Manasco wrote in her sanctions order issued this week.

The judge barred the three attorneys from further involvement in the case where the false citations were submitted. 

She also ordered them to distribute the sanctions order to their clients, opposing counsel, and judges in all other matters they are involved in.

Additionally, she referred the case to the Alabama State Bar for potential disciplinary action.

By Nazrin Sadigova