---
title: "Using generative AI in Minnesota legal practice: ethics checklist"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/ai-decision-systems/us-mn-genai-ethics-checklist"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a45-us-mn-genai-ethics-checklist"
area_id: "A45"
kind: "checklist"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
law_stated_as_at: "2026-11-08"
---

# Using generative AI in Minnesota legal practice: ethics checklist

> Checklist of what Minnesota's own sources say about lawyers using generative AI: the lawyer discipline office's Director says many AI uses need informed client consent, output for a tribunal must be checked, and hourly…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/ai-decision-systems/us-mn-genai-ethics-checklist  
Law stated as at: 2026-11-08

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

Checklist of what Minnesota's own sources say about lawyers using generative AI: the lawyer discipline office's Director says many AI uses need informed client consent, output for a tribunal must be checked, and hourly bills must reflect efficiency.

## Key facts

- Kind: Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Practice area: [AI decision systems](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/ai-decision-systems.md)
- Jurisdictions: United States, Minnesota
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-11-08
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-11-08 against the 4 authorities it cites, for United States and Minnesota.

## When to use it

Use when a Minnesota lawyer or firm sets up, audits or trains staff on generative AI use. The main source is guidance from the Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, which applies ABA Formal Opinion 512 to Minnesota. Pair it with the firm's AI policy and engagement letter.

## How AI may be used

A tool may list the firm's AI tools and match them to each point; a lawyer confirms the Minnesota sources are current, decides whether each point is met and signs off.

**AI may:**

- List the firm's AI tools and the matters they are used on, from the firm's own register
- Match each tool to the checklist points and flag points with no control
- Draft staff reminders that quote the named Minnesota sources accurately

**AI must not:**

- Must not mark a point as met, a source as current or a citation as checked
- Must not decide whether a tool's terms protect confidential client information
- Must not add duties that the named sources do not state
- Must not treat this checklist as a substitute for the named sources or for a later opinion, rule or order

**The lawyer checks:**

- The current version of each named Minnesota source has been confirmed
- The forum's local rules, standing orders and the assigned judge's orders have been checked for AI requirements
- Federal court rules and orders have been checked separately for any federal matter
- Each AI tool's terms of use and privacy policy have been read for access to inputs, retention and training use
- The firm's engagement letter explains its AI use with enough detail for informed consent, not in boilerplate

## Authorities

- [Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, Ethics guidance for generative AI use (Director Susan M. Humiston, Bench & Bar of Minnesota, September 2024)](https://olpr.mncourts.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Ethics-guidance-for-generative-AI-use.pdf)
- [Minnesota Judicial Branch, Artificial Intelligence Information: Frequently Asked Questions](https://mncourts.gov/help-topics/artificial-intelligence-information/frequently-asked-questions)
- [Minnesota State Bar Association AI Working Group, Implications of Large Language Models on the Unauthorized Practice of Law and Access to Justice (June 2024)](https://mnbars.org/docDownload/2460104)
- [Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 1.1, Comment 8 (benefits and risks of relevant technology)](https://www.revisor.mn.gov/court_rules/pr/subtype/cond/id/1.1/)

## 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-mn-genai-ethics-checklist 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.*