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https://www.productionai.institute/graph/events/evt-aiid-1138

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Production AI Institute public record · AI Incident Database: South African Legal Team Reportedly Relied on Unverified ChatGPT Case Law in Johannesburg Body Corporate Defamation Matter · observed 2025-07-06
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AI Incident Database: South African Legal Team Reportedly Relied on Unverified ChatGPT Case Law in Johannesburg Body Corporate Defamation Matter

In a defamation case at the Johannesburg Regional Court, Rodrigues Blignaut Attorneys, representing plaintiff Michelle Parker, reportedly relied on purportedly non-existent legal judgments generated by ChatGPT to help argue their case. Magistrate Arvin Chaitram reportedly found the case names and citations were fictitious, causing a two-month delay. The court issued a punitive costs order and rebuked the plaintiff's legal team for uncritically accepting AI-generated research.

AI Incident Database · Incident 1138

Operator lens (medium): inspect D2 (output validation), D6 (autonomy oversight).

Confidence
82%
Sources
3
Entities
8
Detected
detected 376d ago

Event summary

In a defamation case at the Johannesburg Regional Court, Rodrigues Blignaut Attorneys, representing plaintiff Michelle Parker, reportedly relied on purportedly non-existent legal judgments generated by ChatGPT to help argue their case. Magistrate Arvin Chaitram reportedly found the case names and citations were fictitious, causing a two-month delay. The court issued a punitive costs order and rebuked the plaintiff's legal team for uncritically accepting AI-generated research.

D2D6

Linked entities

  • OpenAI

    vendor | 70%

  • rodrigues-blignaut-attorneys

    organisation | 70%

  • jurie-hayes

    organisation | 70%

  • chantal-rodrigues

    organisation | 70%

  • michelle-parker

    organisation | 70%

  • legal-integrity

    organisation | 70%

  • judicial-integrity

    organisation | 70%

  • epistemic-integrity

    organisation | 70%

Related graph edges

EdgeTypeConfidence
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d1maps to60%
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d1maps to60%
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d1maps to60%
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d2maps to60%
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d2maps to60%
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d2maps to60%
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d6maps to60%
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d6maps to60%
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d6maps to60%
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d2maps to60%
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d2maps to60%
ent-vendor-openai to ent-psf-d2maps to60%

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Event dates

  • Happened 1 Mar 2023

  • Detected 6 July 2025

Sources

  • AI Incident Database - Incident 1138

    secondary | checked 9 July 2026

    Open source
  • Magistrate rebukes lawyers over ChatGPT 'bogus cases'

    secondary | checked 5 July 2025

    Open source
  • South African court calls out lawyers for using ChatGPT references

    secondary | checked 6 July 2025

    Open source
Cite this record

"AI Incident Database: South African Legal Team Reportedly Relied on Unverified ChatGPT Case Law in Johannesburg Body Corporate Defamation Matter." https://www.productionai.institute/graph/events/evt-aiid-1138 (observed 2023-03-01; retrieved 2026-07-17). PAI.

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