Name that Case
The landmark legal ethics case in which attorneys for the plaintiff used ChatGPT for legal research, resulting in a brief submitted in the Southern District of New York that cited nonexistent cases
What is Mata v. Avianca?
This Model Rule, amended in 2012, requires lawyers to keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology.
What is Rule 1.1?
This was the first formal ethics guidance on generative AI.
What is ABA formal opinion 512?
This Northern District of Texas judge issued the very first AI standing order for a federal court in May 2023.
Who is Judge Starr?
This state issued practical guidance, the first significant state-level AI ethics document for lawyers, in 2023.
What is California?
The case in which a high profile defendant's attorneys submitted a filing with three fake cases, but were not sanctioned
Under Rule 1.6, inputting client confidential information into a self-learning AI tool that uses inputs for model training constitutes this.
What is disclosure without informed client consent?
Opinion 512 states that this type of consent is insufficient when a lawyer wants to input client confidential data into a self-learning AI tool.
What is boilerplate consent?
Judge Blumenfeld sparked a trend in the Central District of this state to require mandatory disclosure documents certifying accuracy of all content.
What is California?
This state bar, in Advisory Opinion 24-1, used the analogy of an "inexperienced or overconfident nonlawyer assistant" to describe AI risk.
What is Florida?
The court in this case went beyond monetary sanctions and referred the attorney to a Grievance Panel.
What is Park v. Kim?
Rules 5.1 and 5.3 are implicated by AI use because Opinion 512 treats generative AI tools as this type of entity for supervisory purposes.
What is a nonlawyer assistant?
According to Opinion 512, lawyers may NOT bill clients for time spent on this activity related to AI.
What is learning to use AI tools as part of general technological competence?
This Federal Circuit declined to adopt a standing order, noting that existing sanction mechanisms are broad enough to encompass improper AI use.
Pennsylvania's Joint Formal Opinion 2024-200 specifically flags this unique ethical risk that arises when a language model is trained on data from multiple law firm representations.
What is cross-client confidentiality (or conflict-of-interest risk)?
In this case, 8 of 9 cited cases were hallucinations and the attorney's pro hac vice admission was revoked.
What is Wadsworth v. Walmart?
This rule requires an attorney to make a corrective disclosure to the tribunal if that attorney discovers after filing that a cited case was hallucinated.
What is Rule 3.3?
Opinion 512 anticipates that the duty of competence under Rule 1.1 may eventually require this, reflecting a future-facing obligation.
What is the duty to use AI as a cost saving measure for the client?
Missouri's 20th Judicial Circuit standing order goes further than most by requiring disclosure of this specific detail about AI use in filings, beyond simply acknowledging that AI was used.
What is the specific AI tool used?
This state was the first to address via ethics opinion generative vs. non-generative AI as distinct categories for differing responsibilities.
What is West Virginia?
This case noted “the need for more than a fine and reprimand” and the attorney was reprimanded, disqualified, and referred to the Bar
What is Johnson v. Dunn?
This rule permits lawyers to charge clients for expensive proprietary AI tools on a per-use basis provided there is full disclosure and client consent.
What is Rule 1.5?
The percentage of law firms with more than 100 attorneys that have adopted generative AI use.
What is 46%?
The W.D.N.C. standing order is notable because it extends AI disclosure and verification requirements to this category of filer, not just attorneys.
What are pro se litigants?
This place published a detailed framework for disclosure and consent, which complements ABA Formal Op. 512
What is NYC?