Steven Schwartz, captured outside federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, June 8, 2023, is an individual who utilized ChatGPT to compose a legal brief.
Molly Crane-Newman | New York Daily News | Getty Images
On Thursday, a federal judge in New York imposed sanctions on attorneys who submitted a legal brief written by the artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT. The brief included references to non-existent court opinions and fabricated quotes.
Judge P. Kevin Castel criticized the lawyers, Peter LoDuca and Steven Schwartz, stating that they “abdicated their responsibilities” when they submitted the A.I.-generated brief in their client’s lawsuit against Avianca airline in March. Furthermore, they persisted in supporting the fraudulent opinions even after judicial orders questioned their existence.
As a penalty, Castel directed LoDuca, Schwartz, and their law firm Levidow, Levidow & Oberman, to individually pay fines of $5,000. Additionally, they are required to inform the judges falsely attributed as the authors of the deceptive case rulings about the sanction.
In the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Castel stated in his order, “The Court will not demand an apology from Respondents because a coerced apology lacks sincerity. The decision to apologize is at the discretion of Respondents.”
In a separate order issued on Thursday, the judge granted Avianca’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit. LoDuca and Schwartz filed the suit on behalf of Roberto Mata, who alleged a severe knee injury during an August 2019 flight to New York from El Salvador when he was struck by a metal service tray.
Castel cited the Montreal Convention, which stipulates a two-year timeframe for legal claims related to international air travel. Mata’s lawsuit was filed after this window had expired.
Castel expressed that he may not have sanctioned the attorneys if they had been transparent about Schwartz’s use of ChatGPT for crafting the brief opposing Avianca’s motion to dismiss the suit.
However, Castel deemed the lawyers’ behavior as “bad faith” due to false and misleading statements regarding the brief and its contents after Avianca’s lawyers raised concerns about the legitimacy of the cited court cases.
In his order, Castel remarked, “When researching and drafting court documents, competent lawyers appropriately seek assistance from junior lawyers, law students, contract lawyers, legal encyclopedias, and databases such as Westlaw and LexisNexis.”
Furthermore, Castel acknowledged the prevalence of technological advancements and the acceptability of leveraging reliable artificial intelligence tools for support. Nevertheless, he emphasized the lawyer’s obligation to ensure the accuracy of their submissions, as existing regulations impose a gatekeeping role on attorneys.
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