Generative artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the practice of law – but its growing use also creates significant ethical, professional-liability, cybersecurity and risk-management concerns. Lawyers who incorporate generative AI into their practices must understand both the capabilities of these tools and the professional obligations that continue to apply when technology is used to perform legal work. Attorneys remain responsible for competence, confidentiality, supervision, professional judgment and the accuracy of work produced with AI assistance.
Presented by Noah Fiedler, this CLE program examines the common ethical issues that arise when lawyers use generative AI in their daily legal practice. Topics include technological competence, protecting confidential client information, verifying AI-generated research & work product, supervising attorneys & nonlawyer personnel and establishing reasonable law-firm policies governing AI use. The program will also address potential disciplinary and malpractice exposure resulting from inappropriate or insufficiently supervised reliance on generative AI.
At the end of this CLE, attorneys will be able to:
* Identify ethical and professional-liability risks arising from lawyers’ use of generative artificial intelligence
* Apply duties of competence, confidentiality and supervision when using AI-assisted legal tools
* Recognize the risks posed by hallucinations, inaccurate AI output and insufficient attorney review
* Evaluate emerging cyber-fraud and social-engineering techniques, including AI-enhanced phishing, impersonation and fraudulent payment schemes
* Implement reasonable safeguards and verification procedures to protect client information, client funds and law-firm systems
* Develop practical AI and cybersecurity risk-management policies designed to reduce disciplinary and malpractice exposure
Noah will then examine the rapidly evolving threat posed by cyber fraud and social engineering. Lawyers and law firms are attractive targets for phishing, business-email compromise, fraudulent payment instructions, impersonation schemes and other attacks designed to exploit human behavior rather than technological weaknesses. Generative AI can make these attacks increasingly sophisticated by allowing bad actors to create convincing communications, imitate trusted individuals and target attorneys and law-firm personnel more effectively.
Attendees will learn practical risk-management techniques for using generative AI responsibly while protecting clients, law firms and confidential information. The program will provide strategies for verifying AI-generated work, supervising the use of emerging technologies, authenticating financial and other sensitive communications, implementing cybersecurity safeguards and developing law-firm procedures designed to reduce ethical and professional-liability exposure. Noah Fiedler is a shareholder at Barron & Newburger, P.C., where he serves as a co-leader of the Attorney Risk Management Practice Group and heads the firm’s Wisconsin office.