--- title: "Law firm generative AI use policy (United States)" url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/ai-decision-systems/us-law-firm-generative-ai-use-policy" type: "precedent" site: "AI Law Framework" id: "a45-us-law-firm-generative-ai-use-policy" area_id: "A45" kind: "policy" ai_level: "yellow" version: 1 task_ids: ["A45-T1-R1", "A45-T1-R2", "A45-A20260923-2"] law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22" --- # Law firm generative AI use policy (United States) > An internal policy for a US law firm on which generative AI tools may be used, what may be put into them, who must review output, and when the client is told. It follows Formal Opinion 512's supervision duty. Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/ai-decision-systems/us-law-firm-generative-ai-use-policy Law stated as at: 2026-10-22 Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt ## Key facts - Kind: Policy. A policy or procedure for a firm or client. - Practice area: [AI decision systems](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/ai-decision-systems.md) - Jurisdictions: United States - AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on. - Law stated as at: 2026-10-22 - Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-22 against the 13 authorities it cites, for United States. ## When to use it Use as the firm's own policy for lawyers and staff. It is not the client consent, not the engagement letter, and not a policy for a client's business deploying its own AI system. A client-facing tool needs the separate consent and the pre-use check in that policy's tools register. ## Used for these tasks - [Map automated decisions that affect individuals in the firm's or client's system](https://ailawframework.com/obligations/ai-decision-systems/map-automated-decisions-that-affect-individuals-in-the-firm-s-or-client.md) - [Build a legal-risk table for a client's AI system](https://ailawframework.com/obligations/ai-decision-systems/build-a-legal-risk-table-for-a-client-s-ai-system.md) - [Draft a privacy-impact or algorithmic-impact assessment for the system](https://ailawframework.com/obligations/ai-decision-systems/draft-a-privacy-impact-or-algorithmic-impact-assessment-for-the-system.md) ## How AI may be used A tool may adapt the register and the training list from facts the firm has already approved. The managing lawyer decides which tools are permitted and which information may be input. **AI may:** - Turn the firm's existing tool list into the register table, without adding a tool - List staff who have not signed the training acknowledgment - Compare a proposed use with the information classes in this policy and flag a class the use does not name **AI must not:** - Must not add a tool to the permitted list, or change a class of information that may be input - Must not describe a vendor's terms more favorably than the approval record - Must not mark the policy as adopted, or send it to a client as a promise, unless the managing lawyer has signed - Must not weaken the rule that a person reviews output before it is relied on or filed **The lawyer checks:** - A named lawyer with managerial authority has adopted the policy and owns the register - Each permitted tool has an approval record, and self-learning tools are marked so that cross-matter input is blocked unless consent exists - Billing clauses match the firm's engagement letter and Rule 1.5 as Opinion 512 explains it - The jurisdiction's adopted rules, and any court AI-disclosure orders the firm's litigators meet, are checked. This policy does not recite those orders ## Authorities - [ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Formal Opinion 512, Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools (July 29, 2024)](https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/professional_responsibility/ethics-opinions/aba-formal-opinion-512.pdf) - [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 5.1 (Responsibilities of Partners, Managers and Supervisory Lawyers)](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_5_1_responsibilities_of_a_partner_or_supervisory_lawyer/) - [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 5.3 (Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistants)](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_5_3_responsibilities_regarding_nonlawyer_assistant/) - [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 5.3, Comments 1 to 4](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_5_3_responsibilities_regarding_nonlawyer_assistant/comment_on_rule_5_3/) - [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.1 (Competence)](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_1_competence/) - [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.1, Comment, including Comment 8 on technology](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_1_competence/comment_on_rule_1_1/) - [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6 (Confidentiality of Information)](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_6_confidentiality_of_information/) - [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.6, Comments 3, 4 and 18](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_6_confidentiality_of_information/comment_on_rule_1_6/) - [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.4 (Communications)](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_4_communications/) - [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.5 (Fees)](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_1_5_fees/) - [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.1 (Meritorious Claims and Contentions)](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_3_1_meritorious_claims_contentions/) - [ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 3.3 (Candor toward the Tribunal)](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_3_3_candor_toward_the_tribunal/) - [State Bar of California, Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct, Practical Guidance for the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Practice of Law (2026 revision, replacing the November 2023 guidance)](https://www.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/0/documents/ethics/Generative-AI-Practical-Guidance.pdf) ## Full text and drafting notes The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/ai-decision-systems/us-law-firm-generative-ai-use-policy and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm. *Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*