Back in June 2023, two Manhattan lawyers were fined when six fictitious legal cases, generated by ChatGPT, were cited in a legal brief for a case against a Colombian airline. The judge observed that there was nothing “inherently improper” about lawyers seeking AI assistance when preparing lawsuits, but noted that the pair had:
Abandoned their responsibilities when they submitted non-existent judicial opinions, with fake quotes and citations created by the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT, then continued to stand by the fake opinions after judicial orders called their existence into question.
The lawyers responded that they had acted in good faith, but had simply “[failed] to believe that a piece of technology could be making up cases”.
If true, that claim is as troubling as their actions. Barely six months on from ChatGPT’s public launch, two experienced lawyers were already trusting it to generate facts at the touch of a button, in a sector that is largely built on citation, precedent, and case law. Not only did they did not check their sources, but they also challenged the judge’s ruling against them. A neutral third party might see that as a staggering combination of naivety, arrogance, and irresponsibility.
Despite all this, a Westminster Legal Policy Forum this week heard that AI will be critical to the legal profession’s success and survival, so the industry must seize the opportunities it presents.
So, what are those opportunities?
A graphic presented by international practice Addleshaw Goddard revealed a huge number of potential use cases, with generative AIs and Large Language Models helping lawyers to draft and review documents, policies, and/or evidence, or to explain rules, regulations, and Ts & Cs, across the whole spectrum of legal work, including corporate, commercial, financial, and litigation.
At this point, we should remind ourselves
The post How will generative AI impact legal services? It’s all about responsibility, say lawyers first appeared on a new day for immigration.
