A 29-year-old prosecutor named Zachariah Crabill, formerly employed by Baker Law Group, was terminated from his position during the summer for utilizing OpenAI’s ChatGPT during work hours, as reported by Business Insider. Crabill himself confirmed this to Insider.
Facing increased responsibilities in May due to tight deadlines and workplace stress, Crabill resorted to using ChatGPT, a reputable analytical tool he had utilized before, to assist in managing his workload. Seeking to incorporate details from Colorado event legislation into a legal task, he turned to the AI for support.
Believing ChatGPT would help him save time during urgent situations, Crabill viewed it as a valuable resource. He noted that many lawyers experience similar pressures early in their careers.
After ChatGPT generated a document, Crabill presented it to his supervisor, who then submitted it to the Colorado judge without verifying the AI’s output—a crucial oversight. Upon discovering that the report contained fabricated lawsuit references, Crabill’s initial relief turned into alarm.
Unable to locate the supposed cases in legal databases, Crabill realized that ChatGPT had produced seemingly plausible yet entirely false information, leading to his dismissal after the judge reported the incident to higher authorities, as initially detailed by The Washington Post. While Crabill denied attributing his termination to ChatGPT, he refrained from providing further explanations.
Despite losing his job, Crabill sees the potential for AI to enhance doctors’ productivity. Drawing a parallel between his use of ChatGPT and the common use of Google in workplaces, he ventured into establishing his own AI-powered legal services business.
When approached for comment prior to the publication of this article, Baker Law Group chose not to respond.
The case involving Crabill is not isolated, as demonstrated by a New York law firm that was fined $5,000 in June for leveraging ChatGPT to draft a court brief containing hypothetical cases and opinions.
