My Two Cents: Embracing the Future: Navigating the Ethical Use of AI in Legal Practice.

Lawyers need to be mindful of their bar ethics when using Generative aI in their practice of law.

What can the Florida Bar Ethics Opinion 24-1, issued a couple of months ago, provides as guidance for all lawyers on the ethical use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in their practice. Here are the key teachings and reminders for lawyers, not just in Florida but potentially applicable in any jurisdiction:

1. Confidentiality and Client Information: Lawyers must ensure the protection of client confidentiality when using generative AI. This includes understanding the AI program's policies on data retention, sharing, and learning capabilities to prevent unauthorized disclosure of client information.

2. Competence and Accuracy: Lawyers are responsible for their work product and must ensure that the use of generative AI aligns with their professional judgment and ethical obligations. This includes verifying the accuracy and reliability of information generated by AI tools.

3. Billing Practices: The opinion cautions against improper billing practices, such as double-billing for AI-generated work. Lawyers must ensure that fees and costs charged to clients are reasonable and ethically justified.

Generative AI can be a positive contribution to your law firm!

4. Advertising and Communication: When using AI chatbots for client communication, lawyers must comply with advertising restrictions and clearly disclose that the chatbot is an AI program, not a human lawyer or law firm employee.

5. Technological Competence: Lawyers have a duty to maintain competence in technology, which includes understanding the risks and benefits associated with new tools like generative AI.

6. Supervision and Oversight: Lawyers must develop policies for the oversight of generative AI to ensure its use is consistent with ethical standards. This includes reviewing AI-generated work products for accuracy and sufficiency.

7. Ethical Delegation: Lawyers should carefully consider which tasks can be ethically delegated to generative AI, ensuring that the AI does not perform duties that require a lawyer's personal judgment or constitute the practice of law.

8. Client Relationships: Lawyers must be cautious when using AI for client intake or communication to avoid inadvertently creating a lawyer-client relationship or providing legal advice through AI interactions.

… a lawyer may ethically utilize generative AI technologies but only to the extent that the lawyer can reasonably guarantee compliance with the lawyer’s ethical obligation

9. Informed Consent: In certain situations, particularly when using third-party AI services, lawyers may need to obtain informed consent from clients before disclosing confidential information to the AI.

This opinion underscores the importance of ethical considerations in the adoption and use of emerging technologies in legal practice. It encourages lawyers to embrace innovation while remaining vigilant about their professional responsibilities.  I think the opinion summarizes how lawyers can/should use AI wisely: 

In sum, a lawyer may ethically utilize generative AI technologies but only to the extent that the lawyer can reasonably guarantee compliance with the lawyer’s ethical obligations. These obligations include the duties of confidentiality, avoidance of frivolous claims and contentions, candor to the tribunal, truthfulness in statements to others, avoidance of clearly excessive fees and costs, and compliance with restrictions on advertising for legal services. Lawyers should be cognizant that generative AI is still in its infancy and that these ethical concerns should not be treated as an exhaustive list. Rather, lawyers should continue to develop competency in their use of new technologies and the risks and benefits inherent in those technologies.

MTC

Happy Lawyering!