ABA Formal Opinion 512 is a map of professional duties, not a product approval. It explains how the ABA Model Rules bear on lawyers' use of generative AI. The lawyer remains responsible for the tool, the work, and the governing authority.
The ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued the 15-page opinion on July 29, 2024. We checked the complete opinion on September 19, 2026. Local rules, court orders, engagement terms, and later ethics guidance still control where they apply.
This article provides general operational education. It is not legal advice or a compliance determination. No attorney-client relationship exists, and none of its protections apply.
What the opinion can and cannot answer
The opinion is based on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct as amended through August 2023. It says state and local bar ethics committees may issue more specific or updated guidance as tools develop.
That boundary matters. The opinion is useful, but it is not every jurisdiction's binding rule or a verdict on one use of a tool. A reader should check current local rules, court requirements, engagement terms, and other applicable authority.
Competence includes the specific tool and output
The opinion links generative AI use to Model Rule 1.1.
A lawyer need not become a technical expert. The lawyer should understand the tool's benefits and risks or obtain informed help.
The opinion treats that understanding as continuing work because product capabilities and risks change. It also warns against uncritical reliance on generated text. Lawyers remain responsible for checking analysis, facts, citations, and filings.
A lawyer might use a tool to generate ideas without entering information about a representation. The lawyer still reviews the result before relying on it.
Sending unchecked generated authorities to a court raises a different problem. The opinion connects that risk to meritorious claims, candor, and the duty to correct material false statements.
Confidentiality and communication require separate analysis
The opinion discusses Model Rule 1.6 and information relating to a representation. It says informed consent is required before entering such information into a self-learning tool when the output could lead directly or indirectly to disclosure. General boilerplate in an engagement letter is not enough for that consent.
Some uses without representation information may not require consent under Rule 1.6.
The lawyer must still consider communication duties under Rule 1.4. Disclosure can depend on the facts, client instructions, materiality, and fee implications.
This is why a broad rule such as “AI use always requires disclosure” would overstate the opinion. A product's security description also does not decide the lawyer's professional duties.
Supervision and fees remain ordinary professional duties
The opinion applies supervisory duties to lawyers, nonlawyers, and outside providers involved in the work. It calls for policies, training, evaluation of terms and risks, and review appropriate to the task.
It also applies Model Rule 1.5 to fees and expenses. The opinion distinguishes time spent on a client's work from general learning and distinguishes ordinary overhead from some matter-specific, agreed expenses. It cautions against billing for time saved as if it were time worked or using tool charges as an undisclosed profit source.
The opinion says the Model Rules do not require a lawyer to accomplish a task in a particular way, provided the lawyer completes it competently.
Ortaire's operational judgment is separate. Keep the existing manual process while the team resolves the tool's capabilities, terms, information handling, supervision, or billing treatment.
The AI Use Case Intake record in Ortaire's AI Governance Toolkit logs a proposed use, its review triggers, and the governance decision. Use it before any matter work begins.
Source used
ABA Formal Opinion 512: Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools, July 29, 2024. Complete 15-page opinion published by the American Bar Association; checked September 19, 2026.
