Earlier this year, a lawyer using the AI language model, ChatGPT, for legal research filed a motion in federal court that contained fake case citations. This resulted in sanctions against the lawyer and served as a stark reminder to the legal professionals about the potential hazards of relying overly on artificial intelligence for legal research. The case in question can be found here, and the outcome of the sanctions here.
While the incident underlines potential pitfalls, some appellate lawyers believe that with sufficient caution, AI tools like ChatGPT can still significantly contribute to the process of legal-brief writing. It’s emphasized that the tool might be helpful for improving the stylistic aspects of brief writing but shouldn’t be entirely relied upon for research purposes.
The original report with more information on how AI tools are impacting legal professional’s brief-writing process can be found here. Please note, however, that access might require a subscription.