Guides
Every guide leads with the answer, cites primary sources only, and shows its last-updated date. Start with the ChatGPT question if you are new to this; start with the policy requirements guide if you are writing your firm's rules.
| Guide | What it answers | Updated |
|---|---|---|
| ABA Formal Opinion 512, Explained in Plain English | What ABA Formal Opinion 512 actually requires of lawyers using generative AI: the six duties, what changed, and a compliance checklist. | June 10, 2026 |
| AI Billing Ethics: Can Lawyers Bill for AI Time? | The Rule 1.5 rules for billing in the AI era: what you can bill, what you cannot, who keeps the efficiency gains, and Virginia LEO 1901's answer for flat and value-based fees. | June 10, 2026 |
| Client Confidentiality and AI: What You Can and Cannot Put Into ChatGPT | The Rule 1.6 analysis for generative AI: how every ethics authority treats client data in AI tools, the open-versus-closed model distinction, anonymization standards, and the state-by-state consent spectrum. | June 10, 2026 |
| Telling Clients About AI Use: A Decision Guide | When lawyers must disclose AI use to clients, when consent is required, and how to handle it in engagement letters: the full spectrum from no per se duty to West Virginia's written consent. | June 10, 2026 |
| AI Hallucination Sanctions: Mata v. Avianca and the Candor Duty | Why courts sanction lawyers for AI-fabricated citations, what Rule 3.3 requires, the caselaw from Mata v. Avianca forward, and the verification workflow that prevents it. | June 10, 2026 |
| Supervising AI Use in a Law Firm: Rules 5.1 and 5.3 Applied | How the supervision duties work when the 'assistant' is an AI tool or a staff member using one: who is responsible, what measures bars expect, and how firms evidence them. | June 10, 2026 |
| AI Tool Risk Tiers: Consumer vs. Enterprise vs. Legal-Specific | A risk-tier framework for classifying AI tools before client work touches them: what separates consumer chatbots, enterprise deployments, embedded research-platform AI, and legal-specific tools. | June 10, 2026 |
| Can Lawyers Use ChatGPT? The 2026 Answer | Yes, with conditions. What every U.S. ethics authority says about lawyers using ChatGPT and other generative AI: confidentiality, verification, billing, and when you must tell the client. | June 10, 2026 |
| Court AI Disclosure Orders: Who Actually Requires What (2026) | The court-by-court layer of AI regulation: standing orders, local rules, New York's Part 161, the Illinois policy, and how to check your judge before filing AI-assisted work. | June 10, 2026 |
| Law Firm AI Policy: What Bars Actually Require (2026) | No bar flatly mandates a written AI policy, but the supervision duties in ABA Opinion 512 and a dozen state instruments make one practically unavoidable. Here is what it must contain. | June 10, 2026 |
| Solo and Small Firm AI Compliance: The One-Afternoon Starter | The minimum defensible AI compliance setup for solos and small firms: five artifacts you can build in an afternoon, mapped to the duties bars actually enforce. | June 10, 2026 |
| Which States Require AI Disclosure? The Comparison Table | A side-by-side comparison of client-consent and court-disclosure positions across every jurisdiction with an official AI instrument, honestly labeled by authority type. | June 10, 2026 |
For licensed attorneys and firm operators. This site is legal information, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is formed by using it. Rules change; verify against the primary sources linked on every page and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction before acting.