A Pietermaritzburg law firm, Surendra Singh and Associates, is facing consequences for allegedly relying on AI tools like ChatGPT to generate fake legal citations in a court case. The firm’s actions were exposed by Judge Elsja-Marie Bezuidenhout, who discovered that most of the case references provided by the firm did not exist.
During a hearing in September 2024, the firm presented nine case citations, but only two were real, and one of those had an incorrect reference. The judge questioned the involved lawyer, Ms Pillay, who blamed an articled clerk for the mistake. The clerk claimed to have found the cases using her university portal but couldn’t provide further details.
The judge suspected the use of AI tools like ChatGPT but didn’t receive a clear admission. The firm’s owner, Suren Singh, admitted to using Google to search for cases but didn’t take responsibility for the mistake.
The judge ultimately reprimanded the firm for wasting judicial resources and presenting fake case law. As a result, the firm was ordered to cover the legal costs, and the matter was referred to the Legal Practice Council for further investigation.