Draft the company's internal generative-AI acceptable-use policy
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- Draft the policy from the lawyer's decisions on which tools are approved, what information may be entered, and who may use them. Do not invent a vendor term or a statutory duty.
- What the lawyer must review
- Formal Opinion 512 requires competence, including understanding the limits of the tools, confidentiality under Rule 1.6, and supervision. Rule 5.1 requires measures so that lawyers in the firm conform to the rules. Rule 1.1 requires the legal knowledge and preparation reasonably necessary. The lawyer approves every operative sentence before the policy is issued. Open the admitting state's rules and any sector rule that covers the company's industry. A policy for the business's staff is not a substitute for the lawyer's own duties.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Potential support includes organising research leads and preparing preliminary structure or wording. Confirm the tool’s capability and 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
- Confirm that the actual tool, feature and processing terms permit use of this information, including access, retention, training and disclosure conditions.
- 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outside-counsel guidelines on generative AI (United States) | Letter | AI use Yellow | Instructions from a client to outside counsel on generative AI: when counsel must say a tool was used, what must not be input, how AI-assisted time is billed, and that a lawyer reviews anything filed. |
| Legal department generative AI policy (United States) | Policy | AI use Yellow | A short policy for lawyers and staff in a company legal department covering approved tools, what may be input, review of output, and instructions to outside counsel. |
Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one. All precedents.