Checklist · AI decision systems
How to mark generative AI output in the file (United States)
A short rule for storing output of a generative AI tool so a later reader can see that a tool produced it, who reviewed it, and whether it was relied on.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- United States
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 2 authorities it cites, for United States.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use whenever output of a generative AI tool is kept in a client or firm file. Do not use the mark as a substitute for the lawyer's review.
Used for these tasks
- Map automated decisions that affect individuals in the firm's or client's system
- Build a legal-risk table for a client's AI system
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
A tool may add the mark and the tool's name to a saved output. It may not mark the output as reviewed, and it may not delete the mark.
AI may
- Add the standard first line, including the tool name and the time, when a person saves the output
- List saved outputs from the past month that do not have the mark
AI must not
- Must not mark an output as reviewed by a lawyer unless that lawyer has recorded the review
- Must not remove the mark when the text is copied into a draft
- Must not treat a marked output as ready to file
The lawyer checks
- Relied-on output names the lawyer who reviewed it and the date
- A draft that started from tool output still carries the mark or a note of the source
- The mark is not sent to a client or a court as if it were part of the legal text, unless a court order requires disclosure of the tool
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is available after you log in. It is free. When you log in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in AI decision systems
- Inventory of automated decisions that affect individuals
- Law firm AI use policy (master firm policy)
- Law firm generative AI use policy (United States)
- Approved AI tools register (template with field guide)
- Record of a test for different results across groups
- Approval and training record for a generative AI tool (United States)
- AI vendor due-diligence questionnaire for law firms (master version)
- Legal risk table for a client's AI system
- AI incident response procedure for law firms (master procedure for all AI incidents)
- Record that a person reviewed an automated output
- File note of a generative AI confidentiality incident (United States)
- AI decision system impact and fairness assessment (firm or client systems)
- Reassessment when a model, purpose or provider changes
- Privacy policy clause on automated decisions (APP 1.7 to 1.9, from 10 December 2026)
All precedents for AI decision systems · Tasks and AI use in this area