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

# Using generative AI in Virginia legal practice: ethics checklist

> Virginia checklist on lawyers' use of generative AI, built from the Virginia State Bar's guidance on generative AI, with Legal Ethics Opinion 1901 on fees and the circuit court AI disclosure rules as recorded in this…

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

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

Virginia checklist on lawyers' use of generative AI, built from the Virginia State Bar's guidance on generative AI, with Legal Ethics Opinion 1901 on fees and the circuit court AI disclosure rules as recorded in this library's Virginia record.

## 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, Virginia
- 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 2 authorities it cites, for United States and Virginia.

## When to use it

Use when a firm or lawyer practising in Virginia sets up, audits or refreshes its use of generative AI, or trains new staff. Pair it with the firm AI use policy and the AI tool approval record in this library.

## How AI may be used

A tool may list the firm's AI tools and match them to each point; a lawyer confirms the Virginia 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 Virginia 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 Virginia 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

## Authorities

- [Virginia State Bar, Guidance on Generative Artificial Intelligence (legal ethics page)](https://vsb.org/Site/Site/lawyers/ethics.aspx)
- [Virginia State Bar, Legal Ethics Opinion 1901: Reasonable fees and the use of generative artificial intelligence (approved by the Supreme Court of Virginia, 24 November 2025)](https://www.vacourts.gov/static/courts/scv/amendments/leo_1901.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-va-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.*