M. Jansen Voss Reviews Recent Alabama State Bar Opinion Use of AI

I last wrote about AI and lawyers in May of 2023: Artificial Intelligence and the End of Lawyers...Well, Not Yet. In 2023, OpenAI's Large Language Model (LLM) known as GPT-4 was a novelty, along with Anthropic's LLM, Claude. After testing a legal industry-focused AI tool, I was left unimpressed. However, AI performance and capabilities have improved significantly since then. LLMs have moved from chatbots (ask a question, get an answer) to AI agents performing multi-step workflows. Philosophical debate on the future of AI and its impact on humanity has developed right alongside the technology itself. Of course, extremist views (or those with the most shocking predictions) garner the most clicks and views, and generate the loudest public and private reactions.

Debate among practicing lawyers, legal scholars, and consumers of legal services runs the gamut from AI will eliminate lawyers to AI will make lawyers more efficient and increase access to justice. Volumes have been written, and will be written, about the responsible and ethical use of AI in the legal industry. Courts and bar associations across the country have provided guidance to lawyers on how existing court rules and professional conduct rules apply to a lawyer's use of AI in the provision of legal services. Recently, the Alabama State Bar's Office of General Counsel issued its own guidance to Alabama lawyers in formal opinion 2026-1, "ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE USE: Best Practices Under Existing Professional Conduct Rules". The opinion is a must-read for Alabama lawyers. The full opinion can be found here: Office of General Counsel Formal Opinions: Artificial Intelligence Use Best Practices Under Existing Professional Conduct Rules.   

The following highlights are work noting:

• AI "does not create new ethical duties for lawyers. Rather, it recontextualizes longstanding professional obligations within a new technological environment. As the American Bar Association has emphasized, lawyers remain fully responsible for the work on behalf of the client, regardless of whether AI tools were used in its creation." ABA Formal Ethics Op. 512 (2024).

• Lawyers must have a reasonable understanding of what an AI tool does, what the limits of an AI tool are, how the AI tool retains and protects data, and how the AI tool could fail.

• AI generated output should never be blindly accepted as accurate, and must be independently verified.

• Legal judgement, negotiation, and strategic decision-making should never be delegated to AI.

• Lawyers should utilize AI tools that contractually prohibit collection, retention, or reuse of date by LLM.

I think the Alabama State Bar would agree with Uncle Ben in the 2002 Spider-Man movie that "with great power comes great responsibility". If a lawyer uses AI in the provision of legal services, the lawyer must take great care to leverage this powerful tool ethically and responsibly, and avoid undermining the rule of law. Although many aspects of the future of AI in the legal industry remain uncertain, the Bar's recent opinion certainly won't be its last word on the subject.

M. Jansen Voss helps clients avoid problems and resolve issues both inside and outside the courtroom. He represents a diverse range of businesses, government entities, and professionals in high-stakes, complex personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. Jansen’s clients include international, national, and large regional corporations across the Southeast.

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