--- title: "Lawyer Fired for Using ChatGPT Says He Will Keep Using AI Tools" description: "  It didn't take long for a judge to catch lawyer Zachariah Crabill red-handed, using ChatGPT to write a court document. As The Washington Post reports, Crabill quickly noticed that despite being \"over the moon excited\" for ChatGPT saving him from a major \"headache,\" the tool happily came up with several fake lawsuit citations. And […]" date: "2023-11-17" modified: "2023-11-17" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/lawyer-fired-using-chatgpt-keep-using-ai-tools" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "chatgpt" - "lawyer ai" - "OpenAI" --- # Lawyer Fired for Using ChatGPT Says He Will Keep Using AI Tools ![Lawyer Zachariah Crabill was caught using ChatGPT to help him write a court document — but even after being fired, he still believes in AI.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## AttornGPT at Law Earlier this year, Colorado-based lawyer Zachariah Crabill was caught red-handed [using ChatGPT]() to help him write a court document — but even after being fired from his job, he still believes in the tech. As [*The Washington Post* reports](), despite being "over the moon excited" for ChatGPT to have saved him from the "headache" of actually doing work, the tool included numerous fake lawsuit citations in the document. And that's not exactly surprising, considering the tech's infamous tendency to "[hallucinate]()" facts, making it an immature tool for a legal professional. It was Crabill's first civil litigation case only a year and a half after being licensed. The same day of the hearing, his heart sank as he realized his mistake, as Colorado radio station KRDO [first reported]() back in June. The judge denied Crabill's motion and reported him to a statewide office that handles attorney complaints. He was later fired from the law firm he was working for. Crabill's striking takeaway from the saga? He's doubling down, and is now working on an AI tool designed specifically for lawyers, per *WaPo*. "There’s no point in being a naysayer," he told the newspaper, "or being against something that is invariably going to become the way of the future." ## Future of Law Crabill isn't the first lawyer to have been caught using ChatGPT to draft legal documents. Earlier this year, attorney Steven Schwartz [used ChatGPT]() while attempting to argue a federal court case. The tool similarly included a number of made-up citations, leading to a series of drawn out and deeply [embarrassing]() [court appearances](). And earlier this year, Los Angeles housing attorney Lydia Nicholson noticed a suspicious court document they suspected of being AI-generated, [*LAist* reported](). The firm that provided them the document later blamed a new hire for using "online research." Despite these egregious slip-ups, industry analysts believe a huge proportion of legal jobs could soon be replaced with AI. In April, a Goldman Sachs report [concluded]() that AI could automate 44 percent of legal tasks in the US. Is AI really the future of law — or will lawyers continue to rely on dubiously sourced or entirely fabricated documents? According to Crabill, at least, it's most definitely the former. **More on AI:** [*Fugees Rapper Says His Lawyer Lost His Case by Using AI*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()