SB 574: Regulating the Use of AI in the Practice of Law

California is often on the cutting-edge of new laws and ethical rules, particularly when it comes to overseeing the conduct of lawyers. Lawyer’s use of artificial intelligence is now officially codified in California, recognizing Senate Bill 574 as a first-in-the-nation regulation of lawyer’s use of generative artificial intelligence. It prohibits lawyers from delegating the practice of law to AI, restricts sharing confidential information, and imposes new requirements of public disclosure, among other requirements.

This program will explore the boundaries of the new legal regulations relating to lawyers, mediators, arbitrators, and judges. Designed to prevent embarrassing false case law citations (including judicial reliance), awkward in-court admissions, and increasingly expensive sanctions, many legal professionals and clients welcome the new law, which may serve as a model for the rest of the nation.

This program will describe the new provisions of SB 574 within the additional statutes how lawyers, arbitrators, mediators, and judges can and should use AI within the boundaries of applicable legal and ethical rules. It will cover the requirements of lawyers to verify citations before filing documents in court, signing every paper that is filed in court in the lawyer’s individual name, and other regulations that demonstrate the trend toward transparency.

Wendy Patrick