A lawyer based in New York is facing a court hearing after his company Levidow, Levidow & Oberman erroneously used an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool, ChatGPT, for legal research. This came to light after the papers submitted in court used hypothetical legal cases as examples. On observing this, the judge remarked that the situation provides an “unprecedented circumstance”.
The AI tool ChatGPT has caused quite a bit of hype and is largely used for completing assignments like writing a work email in a certain tone, style, and instruction. In this incident, the lawyer Steven A Schwartz, with over 30 years of experience, used ChatGPT to look for cases that were comparable to the one at hand. In the court hearing, the lawyer stated that he was unaware that the content generated by the AI tool was false. Following this, a hearing has been scheduled to discuss potential sanctions for the lawyer.
The underlying case is about a man who alleged that an airline caused him personal injury. His legal team submitted a brief that sought to obtain that the case should proceed by citing a few court cases as reference. But the airline’s lawyers found that some of these cases seemed bogus.
The lawyer in question, Peter LoDuca, said that he was unaware of how the research was conducted and added that he deeply regrets using ChatGPT. The AI tool had replied to the lawyer’s queries about a case “Varghese” which was indeed real despite being found on legal research sites like LexisNexis and Westlaw. Quite a conversation followed which can be found by searching through Twitter.
Levidow, Levidow & Oberman is a law firm established in New York City that provides certain services including legal counsel, debt and insolvency management, and dispute resolution. It also offers its services through the various departments such as Legal Strategies, Capital Strategies, and Litigation Strategies.
Peter LoDuca is a lawyer who has completed his undergraduate degree in Psychology from Columbia University, and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University. His main areas of practice are labor & employment law, civil rights, Veterans Affairs, and real estate. He is an experienced lawyer with over 40 years of legal experience and is based out of New York.
