Regulation Tracker / United States (state)
Practical Guidance for the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Practice of Law
State Bar of California (Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct) · California
last revised 2026-05-18last verified 2026-09-212 versions
GuidanceIn forceVerification dutyConfidentialityDisclosureCompetenceSupervision
California's State Bar 2026 Practical Guidance replaces its November 2023 generative-AI guidance and adds agentic-AI risks. California lawyers remain responsible for professional judgment, must understand the tool and its autonomy, protect confidential information, review, verify and correct output, supervise staff and vendors, consider client disclosure, and bill only reasonable AI-related time and costs.
- Applies to
- lawyers, firms
- Effective
- See version history
- Current version
- 2026 Practical Guidance · 18 May 2026
- Last verified
- 21 Sept 2026
What the document requires
- Executive Summary: the 2026 guidance replaces the 2023 version and addresses agentic AI's additional autonomy.
- Duties of competence and diligence: lawyers must understand the AI system's capabilities, data sources, limitations, material risks and benefits before using it.
- Agentic AI must not make substantive legal determinations, communicate legal advice, prepare and file pleadings, or act in a representative capacity without meaningful lawyer supervision and review.
- Confidential information may not be input into a tool unless the lawyer has verified reasonable confidentiality, security and data-retention protections, or has informed client consent where required.
- Lawyers must review, verify and correct AI-generated outputs before using them in legal services or court submissions.
- Page 8: hourly fees reflect actual time; general AI subscriptions are normally overhead. Separately billed matter-specific AI costs must be disclosed and reasonably reflect actual cost; a markup requires informed written client consent.
Version history
| Version | Date | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Practical Guidancecurrent | 2026-05-18 | The 2026 Practical Guidance replaces the November 2023 version, adds agentic-AI coverage at the request of the California Supreme Court, and further clarifies competence, confidentiality, communication, candor, supervision and verification duties. The official PDF does not print an issue date; its server Last-Modified header was 18 May 2026. | official · archive |
| Original | 2023-11-16 | First version recorded. | official |
Related court incidents on the record
- Noland v. Land of the Free, L.P., No. B331918 (Cal. Ct. App.)2025-09-12 Sanctions
Sources
Cite this record
SafeLegalAI Legal AI Regulation Tracker, "Practical Guidance for the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Practice of Law" (State Bar of California (Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct), 2026 Practical Guidance, 2026-05-18), safelegalai.com/regulation/us-state/ca-state-bar-generative-ai-practical-guidance (accessed 2026-10-07). Data: CC BY 4.0.
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