Zachariah Crabill, a young attorney, was unexpectedly fired from Baker Law Group for using ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence application, to create fake references in court documents. Notwithstanding this loss, Crabill is still upbeat about AI’s possibilities in the legal industry and has started a new venture by founding his own business that uses AI to provide legal services.
According to Business Insider, the 29-year-old attorney was fired from Baker Law Group this summer as a result of utilizing OpenAI’s ChatGPT during business hours. In May, feeling the pressure of looming deadlines and mounting work, Crabill resorted to ChatGPT, a resource he had previously used for trustworthy legal information. His intention was to enhance a legal motion with specific references from Colorado case law.
Although at first Crabill saw ChatGPT as a useful tool that may save him time during a difficult moment, he acknowledged that he had made the mistake of not fully confirming the AI’s work. Later, he found out that ChatGPT had included false references to fictitious lawsuits in the motion that he had filed with the Colorado court and given to his superiors.
When Crabill realized how serious the matter was and realized he couldn’t find the alleged cases in legal databases, he admitted his mistakes to the judge and apologized for using the AI chatbot. He was dismissed as a result of the judge’s report to higher authorities. Crabill declined to elaborate on why he didn’t think ChatGPT was the reason for his dismissal.
Crabill, nevertheless, continues to believe that AI has the capacity to improve the effectiveness of attorneys. He started his own business using AI to provide legal services, not letting the loss of his employment stop him. Crabill sees AI as a tool that, when well vetted, may greatly help lawyers in their work. He draws comparisons between his usage of ChatGPT and the prevalence of Google use in the workplace.
Business Insider contacted Baker Law Group for comment, but the firm did not reply prior to this report’s publication. With Crabill’s case, the number of cases where lawyers have unintentionally created problems while using AI is growing. A New York legal company was fined $5,000 in a related instance that occurred in June after one of its attorneys utilized ChatGPT to create a court brief that contained fictitious cases and decisions.
