Official documentation
Opinion 705: Generative AI in the Practice of Law
Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas, State Bar of Texas, 2025
Read the originalRead on October 17, 2026
- What it is
- The Texas ethics opinion on lawyers' use of generative AI. It ties confidentiality to Rule 1.05 and says a lawyer must be reasonably satisfied that a tool will not reveal client information before entering confidential material.
- How much weight it carries
- Official Texas State Bar opinion, advisory rather than binding. The committee calls it a snapshot of concerns at the time, not a complete treatment of AI ethics.
Facts taken from this source
- Texas Opinion 705 says a lawyer who puts confidential information into a generative AI tool should consider telling clients about the risks, and may need their consent.
“the lawyer should consider informing clients about the associated risks and may need to secure client consent” (Client communication)
- Texas Opinion 705 says a lawyer should be reasonably satisfied that a generative AI tool will not reveal confidential information to others before the lawyer uses it with confidential material.
“So, with any generative AI tool, the lawyer should be reasonably satisfied that the program will not reveal confidential information to others or permit the use of such information to the disadvantage of the client” (Confidentiality analysis)
- Texas Opinion 705 applies the same test to generative AI tools as to other third-party service providers: the lawyer must be reasonably confident the provider will protect the information.
“the lawyer can only do so if he or she is reasonably confident that the confidential character of the information will be respected and protected by the service provider” (Third-party service providers)