A Utah lawyer, Richard Bednar, has been sanctioned by the Utah court of appeals for submitting a court brief that contained false citations, including a nonexistent case ('Royer v Nelson'), which were generated by ChatGPT. Bednar apologized and accepted responsibility, stating an unlicensed law clerk wrote the brief and he failed to verify its accuracy. The court emphasized lawyers' ongoing duty to ensure the accuracy of their filings, especially when using AI.
US lawyer sanctioned after caught using ChatGPT for court brief
UtahChatGPTLaw (US)United StatesArtificial intelligence (AI)Technology
AI Summary
TL;DR: Key points with love ❤️A Utah lawyer, Richard Bednar, has been sanctioned by the Utah court of appeals for submitting a court brief that contained false citations, including a nonexistent case ('Royer v Nelson'), which were generated by ChatGPT. Bednar apologized and accepted responsibility, stating an unlicensed law clerk wrote the brief and he failed to verify its accuracy. The court emphasized lawyers' ongoing duty to ensure the accuracy of their filings, especially when using AI.
Trending- 1 April 2025: A hearing was held where Richard Bednar and his attorney acknowledged the use of ChatGPT for fabricated legal authority.
- 2 Earlier this week [before May 31, 2025]: The Utah court of appeals sanctioned Richard Bednar.
- Richard Bednar was sanctioned, ordered to pay the respondent's attorney fees, refund fees to his client, and donate $1,000 to a legal non-profit.
- The unlicensed law clerk responsible for writing the brief was terminated from the law firm.
- The case highlights the critical importance of lawyers' duty to verify the accuracy of all court filings, especially when using AI tools.
What: A Utah lawyer, Richard Bednar, was sanctioned by the Utah court of appeals for submitting a court brief that included false citations generated by ChatGPT.
When: The sanction decision was made 'earlier this week' (before May 31st, 2025). A hearing regarding the matter took place in April 2025. The article was published on 2025-05-31T22:40:21+00:00.
Where: The incident and sanction occurred in Utah, United States.
Why: The lawyer submitted a brief containing fabricated legal authority obtained from ChatGPT, failing his professional duty to review and ensure the accuracy of court filings. The false citations were discovered by the respondent's counsel.
How: The respondent's counsel found several false citations in the brief, including a nonexistent case. During a hearing, Bednar and his attorney acknowledged that an unlicensed law clerk used ChatGPT to generate the content and that Bednar failed to independently check its accuracy. The court then issued sanctions.