Question · State Bar AI Opinions
What are the state bar rules on using AI as a lawyer?
Bar ethics committees agree that lawyers may use generative AI if they meet existing duties of competence, confidentiality, supervision, candor and reasonable fees.
01 / The answer
The short answer
State bars generally let lawyers use generative AI if they meet existing duties: competence, confidentiality, client communication, supervision, candor to courts and reasonable fees. ABA Formal Opinion 512 (July 2024) sets the national baseline, and bars including California, Florida, Texas and the New York City Bar have issued their own guidance. Details differ, especially on client consent, disclosure and billing for AI costs, and California's 2026 guidance also covers agentic AI. Read your own state's opinion, because it controls.
02 / The rule
What State Bar AI Opinions requires
Bar ethics committees agree that lawyers may use generative AI if they meet existing duties of competence, confidentiality, supervision, candor and reasonable fees. California replaced its 2023 guidance in 2026 with a version that also covers agentic AI.
- 01Understand the AI tool's capabilities and risks well enough to use it competently, including hallucination risk.
- 02Protect client confidential information; check the tool's data retention and training terms, and get informed consent when needed.
- 03Verify the accuracy of all AI-generated research and drafts before relying on them or filing them.
- 04Supervise lawyers and staff using AI, with firm policies, as with nonlawyer assistance.
03 / Records
Records to keep
- 01Firm generative AI policy and training records
- 02Vendor review of data retention and confidentiality terms
- 03Client engagement terms disclosing AI use and costs
- 04Verification records for AI-assisted work product
Optional evidence · where Planisphere fits
Keep a record anyone can check
When your team meets a duty, Planisphere can seal the event it reports as a receipt.
A disclosure shown, a review signed, a model change approved: the event your system reports.
The event becomes a sealed receipt, dated and attributed to whoever is signed in.
Paste the receipt into Verify. No account or key.
A record supports your compliance evidence process. It is not a legal finding or a certification. Systems that call Planisphere's gate API can also hold or refuse an action before it runs.
SOURCES
Go back to the source
The Florida Bar
Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas
New York City Bar Association
State Bar of California, COPRAC
American Bar Association
RELATED
Related: State Bar AI Opinions: the full guide · What does the California / Florida / Texas bar say about AI? · Do I have to disclose to a client or court that I used AI? · How does a GC evaluate an outside AI legal-tech vendor?