Prepare the facts for an artificial-intelligence disclosure in a federal filing
Key facts
- Human involvement
- RedLawyer-led
- How AI is used
- List the tools the lawyer says were used and the parts of the draft the lawyer says those tools touched. Do not write the statement that is filed and do not say that a standing order requires a disclosure.
- What the lawyer must review
- Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 provides that, by presenting a pleading, written motion, or other paper to the court, whether by signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating it, an attorney certifies that to the best of the person's knowledge, information, and belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances, the legal contentions are warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law or for establishing new law, and the factual contentions have evidentiary support or are specifically identified as likely to have it after a reasonable opportunity for investigation or discovery. The certification is the lawyer's. ABA Formal Opinion 512 (29 July 2024) requires the lawyer to understand a generative tool well enough to use it competently and to check its output. Whether a particular court requires a disclosure about the use of a generative tool depends on that court's standing orders and local rules, which the lawyer opens. The tool does not cite an order it has not been given.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Supporting preparation only. Limit any support to organising, indexing or comparing the source material. Confirm the tool’s capability and permitted scope. The tool writes nothing into the document. Substantive advice, judgement and any restricted content remain with the responsible human. |
| Lawyer | Perform the substantive analysis and decisions. Independently check any permitted supporting work and approve the exact output for its intended use. |
Checklist
- Check the current court or regulator requirements, prescribed form and attachments for the intended document and filing.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.
Forms and precedents for this task
| Form or precedent | Kind | AI use | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generative-AI filing certification worksheet | Checklist | AI use Red | Worksheet for the lawyer who must certify a federal filing under Rule 11 and under the assigned judge's standing order on generative AI. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.