DocumentedAI Hallucination / MisinformationMarch 2023 to June 22, 2023United States

Mata v. Avianca: Lawyers Sanctioned for ChatGPT-Fabricated Cases

In a personal-injury suit against Avianca, attorney Steven Schwartz used ChatGPT for research, and it fabricated 6 nonexistent judicial opinions (Varghese v. China Southern Airlines, Shaboon v. Egyptair, Petersen v. Iran Air, etc.). Schwartz asked ChatGPT directly if 'Varghese' was real; it confirmed and claimed it could be found on Westlaw and LexisNexis. Judge Castel could not locate the citations.

Sanction: US$5KAI system:ChatGPT (OpenAI)

Impact

First internationally recognized case of AI-hallucinated legal citations resulting in sanctions. Schwartz testified he was 'operating under the false perception that ChatGPT could not possibly be fabricating cases on its own.'

Outcome

Judge Castel issued 5,000 USD sanctions each against Schwartz, LoDuca, and the firm on June 22, 2023. Mata's underlying suit was dismissed. Cited in dozens of subsequent AI hallucination rulings worldwide. State bars (CA, FL, NY, WA) issued AI ethics guidance.

Sources

  1. Source 1CNNwww.cnn.com/2023/05/27/business/chat-gpt-avianca-mata-lawyers
  2. Source 2CNBCwww.cnbc.com/2023/06/22/judge-sanctions-lawyers-whose-ai-written-filing-contained-fake-citations.html
  3. Source 3Legal Divewww.legaldive.com/news/chatgpt-lawyer-fake-cases-lawyer-uses-chatgpt-sanctions-generative-ai/653925/

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