Ethics
Lawyer, law firm sanctioned for citing fake case in lead poisoning lawsuit
A lawyer and a law firm that represented the Chicago Housing Authority must pay nearly $60,000 for filing a court document that included a fake citation. (Image from Shutterstock)
A lawyer and a law firm that represented the Chicago Housing Authority must pay nearly $60,000 for filing a court document that included a fake citation.
On Friday, Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Cushing sanctioned lawyer Larry Mason and his firm Goldberg Segalla for improperly using artificial intelligence and making false representations to the court, the Chicago-Sun Times reports. Mason, who signed off on the legal motion that cited a fake court case, was ordered to pay $10,000. The firm was ordered to pay $49,500.
Cushing wrote in his order that Goldberg Segalla’s conduct was “a serious failure,” the Chicago Sun-Times says. The firm apologized for the error in a June court filing, noting that one attorney had made the error without intending to deceive the court.
Danielle Malaty, the lawyer who reportedly admitted using ChatGPT and failed to check her work, was not sanctioned. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, she started her own firm after being fired from Goldberg Segalla in June.
Malaty had been defending the Chicago Housing Authority in a lawsuit alleging that two children became ill after being exposed to lead paint in their apartment building. The agency since has been ordered to pay $32.2 million to the residents who sued on behalf of their children, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
Neither Mason nor Daniel Meyer, Malaty’s attorney, responded to the Chicago Sun-Times’ requests for comment.
The Chicago Tribune previously reported that Malaty was sanctioned in a separate case for including a dozen hallucinated case citations in two court filings.
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