Fact · Voice privacy and security
ABA Formal Opinion 512 says lawyers need not become generative AI experts, but must have a reasonable understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the specific generative AI technology they might use.
Checked against its source on October 17, 2026
In the source's own words
“lawyers must have a reasonable understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the specific GAI technology that the lawyer might use”
In First Ethics Ruling on Gen AI, ABA Says Lawyers Must Have Reasonable Understanding of the Technology, But Need Not Become Experts, Robert Ambrogi, LawNext, 2024, Article text, quoting Formal Opinion 512.
Open the original- What it measures
- The ABA's Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 512 in July 2024, and this LawNext article quotes its competence section the day after it came out. The opinion addresses lawyers who use generative AI in client work.
- What it does not show
- The quote comes from a news article that quotes the opinion, not from the ABA's own text. It describes what a lawyer must understand, not how a particular tool handles confidential data.