Law firms
AI governance for law firms
Solari advises law firms governing the use of generative AI under ABA Formal Opinion 512 and state bar guidance, designing the policy, supervision structure, and controls that make that use defensible.
The regulatory baseline
What ABA Formal Opinion 512 requires
ABA Formal Opinion 512 requires lawyers who use generative AI to understand the tools they rely on, to protect client confidences before any client information reaches an AI system, and to verify AI output before it enters client work. Issued in July 2024, it applies the Model Rules of Professional Conduct directly to generative AI, and it treats these duties as current obligations, not aspirations.
The opinion also reaches supervision and billing. Managerial lawyers must establish clear policies on the firm's use of AI and supervise both lawyers and nonlawyer staff who work with it, and a firm may not bill a client for time the technology eliminated. State regulators, including the State Bar of California, have issued guidance that carries these duties further.
The policy
What a law firm AI policy covers
An enforceable law firm AI policy is specific enough that a partner, an associate, or an IT director can act on it without asking. Six areas carry most of the weight.
01 · Permitted use
Permitted tools and uses
Which AI tools the firm has approved, for which tasks, and which uses are prohibited outright.
02 · Confidentiality
Client confidentiality boundaries
What client information may enter an AI system, on what terms, and when informed client consent is required first.
03 · Verification
Verification and documentation
How AI output is checked before it enters client work or a court filing, and how that verification is recorded.
04 · Supervision
Supervision of lawyers and staff
How managerial lawyers supervise AI use by associates and nonlawyer staff, meeting the duties in Model Rules 5.1 and 5.3.
05 · Billing
Billing treatment
How AI-assisted work is billed, and how efficiency gains are reflected in what clients are charged.
06 · Incident response
Incident response
What happens when a fabricated citation, an error, or a confidentiality lapse reaches a client or a court.
The advisory work
How Solari works with firms
Engagements begin with a Diagnostic: a structured session that assesses how AI is actually being used inside the firm, how that use maps against ABA Formal Opinion 512 and applicable state guidance, and what the firm's policy and supervision structure need to contain. A written analysis follows the session.
From there, Solari designs the policy, the supervision structure, and the controls, and works with firm leadership through implementation. That work is grounded in law firm operations experience: building and running the operational architecture of a mass tort department managing more than 4,000 complex claims with AI-enabled systems.
The Solari Institute publishes the Standard on AI Governance in Law, a versioned statement of what a practitioner governing AI in legal practice must know and be able to do. The Institute also certifies attorneys through the AGL credential. For the wider field, AI governance and law maps the statutes, conduct rules, and frameworks in one place.
Common questions
AI governance for law firms, explained
Do law firms need an AI use policy?
Yes. ABA Formal Opinion 512 makes clear that managerial lawyers must establish policies governing the firm's use of generative AI, and several state bars have said the same. A firm whose lawyers use AI without a policy is carrying supervision and confidentiality exposure it has not assessed.
What does ABA Formal Opinion 512 require?
It requires competence in the AI tools lawyers use, protection of client confidences before information enters an AI system, client disclosure where the circumstances call for it, supervision of lawyers and staff who use AI, and billing that reflects the work actually performed.
Who inside the firm should own AI governance?
A named partner with management authority, often the managing partner or general counsel. AI governance assigns duties under Model Rules 5.1 and 5.3, so it belongs to someone who can set policy, supervise compliance, and answer for both. Delegating it to IT leaves the professional-responsibility questions unowned.
What happens in a Diagnostic?
A 60-minute structured session in which Solari assesses how AI is used inside the firm, which duties apply, and where current practice falls short. A written analysis follows the session, covering findings and the recommended policy and supervision structure.