A federal judge said Wednesday that he is considering sanctions against the lawyers of a high -price firm contracted to defend the Alabama prison system after Chatgpt was used to write two judicial documents that included quotes of non -existent cases.
The United States District Judge, Anna Manascoheld a audience in Birmingham to interrogate the lawyers of the Butler Snow firm about the documents. He said there were five false events in two documents presented in the Federal Court.
Manasco said that at the national level, there have been broad warnings of the courts about the use of artificial intelligence to generate legal documents due to the potential of inaccuracies.
Manasco said he is considering a range of sanctions, including fines. He gave the firm 10 days to present a letter before the court.
Butler Snow’s lawyers apologized repeatedly during the hearing.
They said that a partner of the firm, Matt Reeves, used chatgpt to investigate the support jurisprudence, but did not verify the information before adding it to two documents presented to the Federal Court. These quotes turned out to be “hallucinations” – which means incorrect quotes – by the AI system, they said.
Four lawyers signed the documents with the information, including Reeves.
“Butler Snow is ashamed of what happened here, which was against the good judgment and policy of the firm. There is no excuse to use chatgpt to obtain legal authority and not verify the sources it provided, even if it is to support well -founded principles of law,” wrote the firm’s lawyers in response to the judge.
Reeves told the judge that he was only responsible for false quotes and that “I hope your honor does not punish my colleagues.”
Alabama has paid millions of dollars to the firm to defend the state prison system and its officials in demands. That includes representing the State as a defendant in a lawsuit from the Department of Justice claiming that male inmates live in violent and cruel conditions.
The documents in question were filed in a lawsuit filed by an inmate who was stabbed multiple times in the William E. Donaldson Correctional Institution in Jefferson County. He alleges that prison officials are not managing to keep safe inmates.
Manasco also interrogated Bill Luisford, head of the Butler Snow Division that manages prison litigation, who signed the documents. Alabama’s attorney general has appointed Linsford as attached attorney general because he represents the State in the Court.
Linsford wrote in response to the judge who scanned the documents before presenting them, but did not make a detailed review since he had been reviewed by Reeves. He told the judge that the firm has been proactive in warning lawyers about the limitations of artificial intelligence.