A federal judge in Alabama has disqualified three lawyers from the law firm Butler Snow from a case involving an inmate's lawsuit against the Alabama Department of Corrections. The lawyers, Matthew Reeves, William Cranford, and William Lunsford, were disqualified after they included made-up citations generated by artificial intelligence in court filings without verifying their accuracy.
The incident occurred when Reeves used ChatGPT to generate citations for routine procedural arguments in a case defending former Alabama Department of Corrections Commissioner Jeff Dunn. Judge Anna Manasco reprimanded the lawyers for making false statements in court and referred the issue to the Alabama State Bar for potential disciplinary action.
Butler Snow acknowledged the error, apologized, and launched an internal investigation. The firm has a policy warning lawyers about the risks of AI, but Reeves admitted to disregarding this policy despite being aware of AI limitations. The judge decided not to impose monetary sanctions but emphasized that fabricating legal authority demands greater accountability.
The case highlights growing concerns about AI-generated hallucinations in court filings and the need for lawyers to verify information generated by AI tools. This incident may establish an important precedent for how courts handle AI-related violations in legal practice, potentially leading to more severe penalties in the future.
