Another lawyer punished for citing ChatGPT-created nonexistent cases

Facepalm: There has been yet another case of a lawyer being punished over the use of ChatGPT in a filing that references a nonexistent case. The Utah Court of Appeals has now sanctioned Richard Bednar over the false citations.

According to the court documents, which were seen by ABC4, Bednar and Douglas Durbano, another lawyer who was serving as the petitioner's counsel, filed a "timely petition for interlocutory appeal."

The respondent's counsel reviewed the brief, which was written by a law clerk, and discovered that it referenced several cases that were incorrect or did not exist.

"It appears that at least some portions of the Petition may be AI-generated, including citations and even quotations to at least one case that does not appear to exist in any legal database (and could only be found in ChatGPT) and references to cases that are wholly unrelated to the referenced subject ...