A Canadian lawyer has been suspended for six months after a judge exposed fake legal citations prepared by ChatGPT in a court hearing.The Law Society of Ontario’s disciplinary tribunal suspended Mary Hyun-sook Lee, who practices as Jisuh Lee, for committing professional misconduct by relying on AI-generated case law that was either fabricated or irrelevant to a family and property law case, the National Post reports.The tribunal ordered Lee to complete remedial measures during her suspension and pay C$10,000 after concluding that she failed to properly represent her client and deliberately misled the court through her pleadings.The disciplinary action followed a hearing in Ontario Superior Court last year, where Justice Fred Myers questioned the validity of several cases cited in Lee’s written arguments. When asked to produce copies of the authorities he relied upon, Lee was unable to provide them, prompting the judge to investigate the cases himself.According to the court’s findings, some of the decisions cited could not be found in any legal database, while others were unrelated to the issues before the court or contradicted the arguments made by Lee. In one example, a case supporting the removal of an estate trustee was found to reach the opposite conclusion.Justice Myers questioned whether artificial intelligence was used to generate the content. In his written reasons, he noted that Lee said his office does not generally rely on such equipment, but he would need to confirm with his clerk.The tribunal found that Lee’s conduct was below the standard expected of a lawyer, stating that she relied on non-existent or irrelevant case law facts generated by an artificial intelligence tool and misled the court in doing so.Tom McIntosh Zheng, a Toronto lawyer who tracks the use of AI in legal practice and was quoted by the outlet, said the case is the first time a Canadian law society has suspended a lawyer for misusing artificial intelligence in court submissions rather than issuing a reprimand.Zheng said the case highlights growing concerns within the profession about the risks posed by unverified AI-generated content. “There is increasing scrutiny over how lawyers use these tools, particularly where they impact the integrity of court proceedings,” he said.The judge emphasized that lawyers have a fundamental duty to verify their appearing authorities. He wrote that it should be self-evident that lawyers should read and verify the cases they cite and should not rely on authorities that do not exist or that support the opposite of their position.Separate civil contempt proceedings against Lee will continue. The court, citing procedural uncertainty including Lee’s failure to retain legal counsel, has appointed an amicus curiae, an independent lawyer who assists the court.