The Florida Bar adopted ethical guidelines for attorney use of artificial intelligence technology Friday, becoming one of the first governing bodies to provide members with dos-and-don’ts for integrating AI into the practice of law.
The 18-page opinion, unanimously approved by the bar’s board of governors at a convention in Tallahassee, spells out general principles for use of AI from reviewing computer-generated work to fee structures and preservation of client confidentiality.
Florida pushed into this cutting-edge ethical field because the promise and peril of addressing AI is a key goal for bar President Scott Westheimer. An ethics committee then hashed out AI pitfalls to give general guidance that lawyers could apply to the ever-growing number of AI tools and applications in the legal industry, Board Review Committee on Professional Ethics Chair Brian David Burgoon told Bloomberg Law.
“It’s a game-changer in the practice of law,” he said. “We’re nervous and excited: lawyers need to understand AI because it provides a competitive edge to practitioners using it responsibly.”
Old Pitfalls, New Tech
Practiced lawyers leafing through the ethics opinion would notice old themes and principles despite the cutting-edge technology the guidance addresses.
AI can “hallucinate” and provide false answers to questions, and it can occasionally make up legal precedent entirely. That makes checking the work product of the computer program extremely important—but that’s also a mandate lawyers have followed for generations while supervising law clerks and paralegals.
The promise of AI is more efficient and effective representation, which could save big bucks for clients and firms. But like other tech used by lawyers in the past, practitioners must be mindful to charge for it fairly, and the opinion looks to rulings about other expenses and firm-overhead.
However, AI does have the potential to create new problems, especially in the area of confidentiality, Burgoon said. Large language models—AI programs that adapt to sources and facts as they analyze the inputs given them—could create disclosure issues if third-party programs retain client information and divulge it improperly.
The bar warns lawyers must sufficiently understand the technology they’re using to satisfy their ethical obligations. Otherwise they can’t avert any potential unethical disclosures, or get client consent if that’s a possibility with using an AI program, the guidance warns.
That’s why lawyers need to be on the lookout and analyze each use of AI to make sure they’re applying principles to an expanding roster of tools, Burgoon said.
“It’s a constantly evolving technology that’s rapidly growing—that’s why it’s important, as a bar, to have ethical guidance for lawyers to help them navigate these issues,” he said. “There’s good tools out there, but there are some bad problems that can come with them.”