Inspired by Carolyn Elefant’s webinar this afternoon on the use of ChatGPT in the marketing of your legal practice through writing an Ebook, I started playing with ChatGPT a little bit more on the legal blogging front.
Specifically, I asked ChatGPT about the ethics of lawyers hiring ghostwriters to write blog posts and then holding out the content the public as something the lawyer wrote. The same logic would apply to an Ebook.
I asked,
Is it unethical for a lawyer to hire someone to write a legal blog post for the lawyer and represent to the public that the lawyer wrote the post?”
To which ChatGPT responded,
It is generally considered unethical for a lawyer to hire someone to write a legal blog post for the lawyer and then represent to the readers or clients that the lawyer wrote the post. This is because it is considered to be a form of deception and it violates the principle of honesty and integrity that is expected of lawyers.
In most jurisdictions, lawyers are held to a high standard of ethical conduct, and deception is generally considered to be a violation of that standard. It is important that lawyers are truthful and transparent in their communications with clients and the public.
In addition, as a professional, it is expected that a lawyer should have the knowledge and expertise to write about legal topics, and if a lawyer is not able to do so, it may raise questions about the lawyer’s qualifications and expertise.
It is important for the lawyer to be transparent about the authorship of the blog post, if the lawyer did not write the post, it should be clearly stated that it is written by a legal professional or a legal expert and not the lawyer himself.
In summary, it is considered unethical for a lawyer to hire someone to write a legal blog post and then represent to the readers or clients that the lawyer wrote the post, as it is a form of deception that is in violation of the principle
Transparency is the key on the ethics of legal blog writing, says ChatGPT – and I’d hope, lawyers.
I get we cannot rely machines in determine the ethics of lawyer’s conduct – today. 😉
But it is interesting that that ChatGPT may be on the right side on this issue in its general feedback here.
Today, it’s human ghostwriters, tomorrow it’ll be ChatGPT writing blog posts which lawyers will hold up as something they wrote.
Transparency will be key in deciding the ethical implications in either case – if you want to stay on the right side of the ethical line as a lawyer.