星期三美國一聯邦法院法官處罰3位於Huntsville律所執業的律師，同時將於該3位代理的訴訟中解任，原因是他們使用人工智能ChatGPT製作引註。根據20250723法院提出的文件， Matthew B. Reeves, William J. Cranford 與William R. Lunsford三位律師於阿拉巴馬州一位受刑人訴訟中被解任，該受刑人聲稱獄方未能保護其人身，其於監獄三個處所遭攻擊且深中數刀。今年五月時該三名律師於法院審理時承認其律所中不只一位合夥人使用ChatGPT搜尋案例引述以便堅實其主張，但該引述註解明顯是由人工智能工具所做。法院就Matthew B. Reeves, William J. Cranford 與William R. Lunsford之不當行為予以訓誡，並就渠等所承辦案件予以解任。解除委任適法適當：律師如果在訴訟程序為虛偽陳述，將會使其於該案件失格，無資格於該案擔任辯護人或代理人來執行律師業務。Butler Snow律所就承辦了許多阿拉巴馬州監禁在獄所者之訴訟，包括美國司法部提起的訴訟。在那些由Butler Snow律所Lunsford律師領頭的訟案，從2020年財政年度開始，列入已獲得州給付4千2百萬美元名單中。Lunsford說其未提供不實的引述，是同為案件代理人也就是律所合夥人Reeves所為。Lunsford於法院審理時稱，他的錯誤不被苟同且遭到檢視。
“To begin this declaration, I am personally and professionally sorry for what has occurred,” Lunsford said in an affidavit filed with the federal court. “These events do not reflect the nature or quality of work that I have worked for decades to ensure that every client receives. I apologize to the Court, to all parties, to opposing counsel and to the State of Alabama for the terrible decisions that led to an erroneous filing. We will ensure that this never occurs again.”
In his affidavit, Reeves said that in reviewing planned court filings by another lawyer in the case, he saw that some of the arguments needed case citations, so he went to ChatGPT, the AI program.
“I knew generally about ChatGPT,” he wrote in the affidavit. “I performed a search to identify supporting case law for the proposition that discovery may proceed even during the pendency of other discovery issues, as to the Motion for Leave, and that general or boilerplate objections are not effective, as to the Motion to Compel.”
He said that search revealed what appeared to be applicable citations for those points of law, and in a hurry to finalize and file the motions, he failed to verify them before including them. He then said he confirmed that some citations used were inaccurate or do not exist.
Reeves, Cranford and Lunsford were ordered to give the Clerk of Court a listing of jurisdictions in which they are licensed to practice law within 24 hours.
Additionally, they were ordered to provide a copy of the order to “their clients, opposing counsel, and presiding judge in every pending state or federal case in which they are counsel of record,” and every attorney in their law firm within 10 days.
Court docs also show that without sanction, attorneys Daniel J. Chism and Lynette E. Potter, and the law firm Butler Snow LLP are released from disciplinary proceedings.
The Clerk of Court will serve a copy of the order on the General Counsel of the Alabama State Bar and any other applicable licensing authorities for further proceedings.
