Accused Murderer’s Lawyer Under Fire for Filing AI-Generated Court Docs That Included ‘Fabricated Quotes’

66Rishi Nathwani, a defense lawyer in Melbourne, Australia, apologized after he unwittingly submitted court filings with false quotes and other blatant errors generated by AI.

The mistake delayed a murder trial by 24 hours in the Supreme Court of Victoria, but Nathwani’s client was ultimately found not guilty because of mental impairment, according to the Associated Press.

Nathwani told Justice James Elliott that he took “full responsibility” for not verifying the information himself.

“We are deeply sorry and embarrassed for what occurred,” he said on behalf of his defense team on Aug. 13.

Justice Elliott called the blunder “unsatisfactory.”

“The ability of the court to rely upon the accuracy of submissions made by counsel is fundamental to the due administration of justice,” Elliott said.

The filings reportedly included AI-generated fake quotes, case judgments, and a speech to the state legislature, according to the AP.

Unable to find record of the cited material, Elliot’s associates asked for copies, which is when Nathwani’s defense team discovered much of the content was fabricated.

Before submitting the documents, the team had searched for errors in the initial citations. Unable to find any, they assumed the rest of the material was also accurate.

“It is not acceptable for artificial intelligence to be used unless the product of that use is independently and thoroughly verified,” Elliott said, citing Supreme Court guidance on using AI.

The filings were also sent to prosecutor Daniel Porceddu, who reportedly hadn’t caught the errors either.

Evidently, such mistakes are becoming more common in courtrooms.

A lawyer in Western Australia was fined after his AI-generated court submissions referenced four non-existent case citations, The U.K. Guardian reported Tuesday.

The anonymous lawyer was ordered to pay nearly $8,400 and was referred to the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia.

The incident “demonstrates the inherent dangers associated with practitioners solely relying on the use of artificial intelligence in the preparation of court documents and the way in which that interacts with a practitioner’s duty to the court,” Justice Arran Gerrard said.

The case was one of at least 20 instances in Australia, in which AI has fabricated citations and created other errors in court documents.

“I had an incorrect assumption that content generated by AI tools would be inherently reliable, which led me to neglect independently verifying all citations through established legal databases,” the lawyer reportedly said in an affidavit, according to The Guardian.

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