ChatGPT-using lawyer punished for citing fake testimony from made-up witnesses
A New Mexico defense attorney was sanctioned after submitting legal filings that cited fabricated testimony and fictional witnesses generated by ChatGPT. The lawyer stated she was unaware that AI tools could produce false information presented as fact.
Why this matters: Lawyers have a basic duty to verify what they file. That duty does not shrink because a tool made the work faster. When fake witnesses end up in real court documents, actual people on the other side of a case pay the price. This is not a story about AI being clever or strange. It is about a professional skipping a step that courts depend on. Every lawyer using AI needs to understand one thing: the output is a draft, not a source. If you file it without checking it, that is on you.
Who should care: General readers · AI governance · Policy
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