Incident Tracker

Park v. Kim, 91 F.4th 610 (2d Cir. 2024)

referral

In the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, attorney Jae S. Lee cited a non-existent decision in her reply brief that she obtained from ChatGPT without reading or verifying it. While affirming the dismissal, the court referred Lee to its Grievance Panel under Local Rule 46.2 for failing the reasonable-inquiry duty.

Date of decision/order

2024-01-30

Court

US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

Jurisdiction

US-FEDERAL

AI tool

ChatGPT (OpenAI)

Conduct

Attorney Jae S. Lee cited a non-existent state-court decision in her reply brief. She admitted using ChatGPT to find supporting precedent and did not read or confirm the fabricated decision before citing it. The court found this fell below the reasonable-inquiry duty under Rule 11.

Consequence

See outcome

Regulatory outcome

US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit — Grievance Panel: While affirming the dismissal on the merits, the court referred Attorney Jae S. Lee to its Grievance Panel under Local Rule 46.2 for investigation and possible referral to the Committee on Admissions and Grievances. (2024-01-30)