People v. Zachariah C. Crabill, 23PDJ067 (Colo. Presiding Disciplinary Judge)

Summary

Colorado attorney Zachariah C. Crabill drafted a motion to set aside a judgment in April 2023 using case citations he found through ChatGPT without reading or checking them, and filed it in May 2023. He discovered before the hearing that the cases were incorrect or fictitious but did not tell the court or withdraw the motion, and when the judge raised concerns he falsely blamed a legal intern; six days later he filed an affidavit admitting he had used ChatGPT. On November 22, 2023, the Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved a stipulation suspending him for one year and one day, with ninety days to be served and the rest stayed on completion of two years of probation, for violating Colorado RPC 1.1, 1.3, 3.3(a)(1) and 8.4(c).

Key dates

1. November 22, 2023Filed
2. November 22, 2023Resolved
3. October 16, 2026Checked against sources
4. October 21, 2026Checked against sources

Developments are added when the record is reviewed. Next review: October 16, 2027.

Evidence

Each passage is quoted from its source. The quoted passages are re-checked against the live pages every month.

1. If he successfully completes a 90-day suspension and two subsequent years of probation, the rest of the year suspension will be forgiven.

   Supports: sanction terms

   Colorado lawyer suspended for using AI platform to draft legal motion CBS Colorado Reporting or analysis

2. At the May 5 hearing, Bentley was the one who first mentioned the non-existent cases.

   Supports: detection by the trial judge at the May 2023 hearing

   Disciplinary judge approves lawyer's suspension for using ChatGPT to generate fake cases Colorado Politics Reporting or analysis

3. suspended Zachariah C. Crabill (attorney registration number 56783) for one year and one day, with ninety days to be served and the remainder to be stayed upon Crabill's successful completion of a two- year period of probation, with conditions.

   Supports: sanction and its terms

   When the judge expressed concerns about the accuracy of the cases, Crabill falsely attributed the mistakes to a legal intern.

   Supports: false attribution to an intern

   People v. Zachariah C. Crabill. 23PDJ067. November 22, 2023.

   Supports: case number and date

   People v. Zachariah C. Crabill, 23PDJ067, stipulation to discipline summary (22 Nov. 2023) Colorado Office of the Presiding Disciplinary Judge Primary source