Separate AI licence fees and prompting time before a bill is drawn
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- From the time entries and the invoices for the tool, separate a per-user, lump-sum or annual licence fee from time spent prompting and checking output on one client's matter, and from any fee charged per matter. Do not draw the bill.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer decides what is a practice overhead, what may be billed as time on that matter, and whether a per-matter fee is a disbursement under the costs agreement.
- Written for / version
- US
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: US
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Do not begin AI assistance until the responsible lawyer has defined and confirmed its permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- On the Queensland guidance, most due diligence, supervision and a licence charged per user, as a lump sum or annually is a practice overhead and cannot be billed to a client.
- Time spent prompting a tool and checking the output for a specific client's matter can be recorded and billed to that client if the retainer is time-based. A time entry is not adjusted upwards to the time the work would have taken manually.
- A licence charged per matter can fit a disbursement more easily if the costs agreement defines it as one. A fixed fee must remain fair and reasonable.
- On the joint regulators' statement, time and work items billed to a client accurately represent legal work done by law practice staff, and use of a tool does not unnecessarily increase the client's costs above traditional methods, including extra time spent verifying or correcting output.
Sources
- Queensland Law Society, Guidance Statement No 37: Artificial intelligence in legal practice · 2026-10-22
- Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner, Statement on the use of artificial intelligence in Australian legal practice · 2026-10-22
These are suggested working checks. Confirm the required checking with the responsible lawyer before work starts; the checking approach does not establish permission to use AI.