News and journalism
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
Read the originalRead on October 17, 2026
- What it is
- A LawNext article, published July 30, 2024, on ABA Formal Opinion 512. It summarizes the opinion's competence section and quotes the opinion's wording on what a lawyer must understand about a generative AI tool.
- How much weight it carries
- A specialist legal-technology journalist who quotes the opinion directly. It is a secondary account, not the opinion itself, so check the ABA's text before quoting it in a filing.
Facts taken from this source
- 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.
“lawyers must have a reasonable understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the specific GAI technology that the lawyer might use” (Article text, quoting Formal Opinion 512)