ChatGPT Coming to Court, by Way of Self-Represented Litigants


I posted earlier right this moment a few lawyer’s submitting unchecked ChatGPT-generated materials, full with hallucinated circumstances. However even when attorneys handle to keep away from that, I am positive that many self-represented litigants shall be utilizing ChatGPT, Bard, and the like, and will not know to correctly verify the outcomes.

Certainly, a fast CourtListener search identified three self-represented filings (1, 2, 3) that expressly famous that they have been counting on ChatGPT. That means that there are a lot of extra that used ChatGPT however did not point out it. (To my data there is not any requirement to reveal such issues.)

Word additionally that self-represented litigants are fairly frequent: Even setting apart prisoner filings (since I am unsure what number of prisoners have entry to ChatGPT), in federal court docket, “from 2000 to 2019, … 11 % of non-prisoner civil case filings concerned plaintiffs and/or defendants who have been self-represented.” And I anticipate this could be much more frequent in state courts, as an illustration in divorce and little one custody circumstances, the place I am advised self-representation is much more frequent. (Household court docket plaintiffs would possibly really feel like they should file for divorce, regardless that they cannot afford a lawyer, and defendants would possibly get sued for divorce or over little one custody disputes regardless that they haven’t any cash that the plaintiff can get better.) And even not limiting issues to such classes of circumstances, it seems that “The caseload of most California judges now consists primarily of circumstances by which a minimum of one occasion is self-represented.”

See additionally this put up from late February for an early question alongside these strains, by which one commenter did point out that he had used ChatGPT-3 for a state court docket submitting; and see this put up from January for the DoNotPay traffic-ticket-litigation story. If you understand of any circumstances involving professional se litigants utilizing ChatGPT and comparable applications, please let me know.