Canadian lawyer faces 6-month suspension for citing ChatGPT case at court hearing | World News

A Canadian lawyer has been suspended for six months after a judge discovered false legal citations generated by ChatGPT during a court hearing.The Ontario Bar Association Disciplinary Tribunal suspended Jisuh Lee practitioner Mary Hyun-Sook Lee after finding she committed professional misconduct by relying on artificial intelligence-generated case law that was either fabricated or unrelated to family and estate law issues, the National Post reported.The tribunal found that Lee had failed to properly represent his client and had deliberately misled the court through his submissions, and ordered Lee to complete remedial measures while suspended and pay costs of C$10,000.The disciplinary action follows a hearing last year in Ontario Superior Court of Justice where Justice Fred Myers questioned the validity of several cases cited by Lee in his written submissions. When asked to produce copies of the authoritative documents she relied on, Lee was unable to provide them, prompting the judge to search the cases himself.According to the court’s findings, some of the decisions cited could not be found in any legal database, while others were irrelevant to the issues before the court or contradicted the arguments raised by Lee. In one instance, a case cited in support of removing an estate trustee was found to have reached the opposite conclusion.Judge Miles questioned whether artificial intelligence was used to prepare the materials. Lee said her office does not typically rely on such tools, but she needed to check with her staff, he noted in written reasons.The tribunal found that Li’s conduct fell below the standard expected of a lawyer, saying she misled the court by relying on facts generated by an artificial intelligence tool that contained non-existent or irrelevant case law.Citing Tom Macintosh Cheng, a Toronto lawyer who tracks the use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, the outlet said the case marked the first time the Canadian Bar Association had suspended, rather than reprimanded, a lawyer who misused artificial intelligence in court presentations.Zheng added that the case highlights growing concerns within the industry about the risks posed by unproven AI-generated materials. “There is increasing scrutiny of how lawyers use these tools, particularly where they impact the integrity of court proceedings,” he said.The judge emphasized that lawyers have a fundamental obligation to verify the authority they provide. It goes without saying, he wrote, that lawyers must read and confirm the cases they cite and must not rely on nonexistent authority or support authority contrary to their position.A separate civil contempt proceeding against Lee remains pending. The court appointed an amicus curiae, an independent attorney to assist the court, citing procedural uncertainties, including Lee’s failure to retain legal counsel.