A Canadian judge has reprimanded a lawyer after she was caught using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT to draft a legal document full of cases that do not exist as precedents for her arguments. The lawyer, identified as Jisuh Lee, has been ordered to explain why she should not be tried for "contempt in the face of the court" during a "show cause hearing".
Ms Lee's use of AI was detected when she appeared before Ontario Superior Court Judge Fred Myers on April 25, representing her client Hanna Ko, according to a report in National Post. She submitted a document that included links to non-existent cases, alleged misreadings of real cases and what Judge Myers suspected were "possibly AI hallucinations".
Ms Lee was arguing a motion in a complicated estate and family law matter involving a dead man. Quizzed by the judge if she had used AI to create the factum, Ms Lee said her office did not usually use it but she "would have to check with her clerk".
"It appears that Ms Lee's factum may have been created by AI and that before filing the factum and relying on it in court, she might not have checked to make sure the cases were real or supported the propositions of law which she submitted to the court in writing and then again orally," Judge Myers wrote.
The judge then schooled Ms Lee about the duties of a lawyer to the court, clients and the justice system, including faithful representation and told her not to mislead the court.
"Ms Lee may have committed grave breaches of her duties that may amount to contempt in the face of the court," he wrote.
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Previous instance
This is not the first instance when lawyers have been caught using AI to create legal documents. Last month, lawyers representing My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell were pulled by a federal judge for using AI to write a legal brief in a defamation lawsuit.
As per District Judge Nina Wang, the brief had 30 defective citations, including misquotes and citations to fictional cases. She ordered attorneys Christopher Kachouroff and Jennifer DeMaster to show cause as to why the court should not sanction the defendants, law firm, and individual attorneys.
Both attorneys have also been directed to explain why they shouldn't be referred to disciplinary proceedings for violations of the rules of professional conduct.
