In the United States, scandals related to the use of artificial intelligence in legal practice have sparked outrage. Lawyer Rafael Ramirez was fined $15,000 after it was discovered by the court that he included references to non-existent court decisions in his documents.
Ramirez was representing the company Hoosiervac in a dispute with the Mid Central Operating Engineers Health and Welfare Fund trade union fund, which requested a full audit of the company’s financial documents. In October 2024, Ramirez submitted a petition to the court, citing a case that the judge could not find in any legal framework. Upon the judge’s observation, Ramirez acknowledged the mistake, removed the reference, and apologized. However, further document scrutiny revealed two more instances of fictitious precedents being used.
In his defense, Ramirez claimed that he had used AI in his legal work before but was unaware that generative models could create imaginary cases. He mentioned that the links appeared credible, leading him to skip verifying their authenticity. Subsequently, Ramirez underwent advanced training courses on AI tools and vowed to only utilize those that “guarantee error-free results.”
Nevertheless, the court deemed Ramirez’s explanations inadequate. The judge pointed out that the lawyer had not made sufficient efforts to validate the accuracy of the links. While acknowledging that AI has a place in legal practice, the court stressed the need for a cautious approach and result verification. The judge likened AI to a “beneficial yet potentially hazardous tool, akin to a chainsaw,” emphasizing the importance of careful use.
This incident is not an isolated one. In January 2025, a group of lawyers handling a case against a gyro scooter manufacturer and Walmart also presented fictitious case references to the court. Consequently, one lawyer was temporarily barred from practicing, while three others received fines ranging from $1,000 to $3,000.
In a separate case, a U.S. court strongly rebuked the Cuddy Law firm for attempting to justify their high fees using the ChatGPT chatbot. Additionally, lawyers in New York were fined for leveraging ChatGPT to fabricate court decisions and testimonies.