Not in my courtroom

Across the ditch, there’s bad news for lawyers in New South Wales who’ve become overly dependent on ChatGPT.

The Australian reports that Chief Justice Andrew Bell has banned practitioners from using artificial intelligence when drafting evidence-related documents and says judges must not use AI when preparing decisions.

But different rules apply inter-state. In Victoria, parties must tell one another if they’ve used AI when preparing a case and in Queensland, lawyers are encouraged to disclose AI use.

Bell, however, says NSW lawyers must disclose in all affidavits, witness statements and character references that AI was not used, including “by way of altering, embellishing, strengthening or diluting or rephrasing a witness’s evidence”.

In February, The Australian says an ACT Supreme Court judge dealt with the first known case of AI in an Australian court, when the brother of a man found guilty of dealing in illegal vapes used ChatGPT to write a character reference for him.

In October a Melbourne lawyer was referred to the legal watchdog after being caught citing fake AI-generated cases, causing the hearing to be adjourned