Client AI Notice of Practices Template
A standalone, public-facing document the Firm publishes alongside its privacy policy. Tells current and prospective clients how the Firm uses AI, how client information is protected, and what client rights apply. Pairs with the Informed Consent Form for matter-specific use.
On this page
Why publish a notice
Most law firm websites publish a privacy policy describing how the firm collects, uses, and protects information. AI use sits uncomfortably inside that policy. AI processing of client information is qualitatively different from cookies and email marketing, and clients reasonably expect a separate explanation. A standalone Notice of AI Practices is the artifact that provides it.
The Notice supports three obligations at once. Communication under RPC 1.4: a clear public account of AI use. Confidentiality under RPC 1.6: expectations about what information may be processed and how. Supervision under Rules 5.1 and 5.3: a published standard the Firm measures itself against.
Recent state-bar guidance, including the Illinois ARDC's implementation guide, has treated a Notice of AI Practices as a recognized vehicle for transparency. The template below adopts that posture and simplifies the structure for small and mid-size firms.
What's in the notice
The Notice has six parts:
- About this notice. What the Notice is, who it covers, and where it sits in relation to the Firm's privacy policy and engagement letters.
- What is generative AI. A plain-language definition for clients, distinguishing AI from older legal-technology features clients may already be familiar with.
- How we use AI. Two categories of use: background AI features in tools the Firm already uses, and matter-specific AI use the Firm chooses to apply on a particular client matter.
- How we protect your information. The safeguards the Firm applies, including approved-tool review, training, verification, and supervision.
- Your rights. Opt-out, consent, the right to request the Firm's current schedule of AI tools, and the right to ask questions.
- Contact information. Who to write to, plus effective date and version.
The notice template
The text below is the Notice itself. Adapt the bracketed placeholders ([like this]) to the Firm. Trim where a section does not apply; do not generalize across categories the Firm does not actually use.
[FIRM NAME] NOTICE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE PRACTICES
Effective [date]. Version [1.0].
About this notice
[Firm Name] (the "Firm") provides this Notice of Artificial Intelligence Practices. It explains three things: how the Firm uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools in providing legal services, how the Firm protects client information when AI tools are involved, and what rights clients have when AI is used on their matters. This Notice supplements the Firm's [Privacy Policy / website privacy notice] and the engagement terms for individual matters. Where the engagement terms or a matter-specific consent address AI use, those terms control for the matter.
What is generative AI
"Generative AI" refers to a category of computer programs that generate text, images, audio, video, code, or similar content in response to a user's prompt. These programs include general-purpose tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot) and legal-specific tools embedded in research and practice systems (such as Westlaw Precision AI, Lexis+ AI, Harvey, and CoCounsel). Generative AI is not the same as older technologies clients may be familiar with, including spell-check, predictive typing, citation linking, or keyword search.
How we use AI
The Firm uses AI in two categories. They differ both in client visibility and in the safeguards that apply.
1. Background AI features. AI features are now embedded in tools the Firm uses for ordinary firm operations, including word processing (Microsoft 365), document management, email, calendar, accounting, billing, and legal research (Westlaw, Lexis, and similar systems). These features run in the background of standard firm operations. The Firm reviews these tools for confidentiality and security posture before approving them and selects vendor tiers that meet the Firm's policy on retention, training, and data protection.
2. Matter-specific AI use. On individual client matters, the Firm may use AI tools to assist with drafting, research, summarization, document review, or analysis. A responsible attorney supervises any matter-specific use. It follows the Firm's approved-tool list and approved use cases. Before any AI-assisted work product is filed with a tribunal, delivered to a client, or sent to opposing counsel, the work goes through a verification protocol. When matter-specific use involves processing confidential client information through a tool that retains or trains on submitted content, the Firm obtains the client's informed consent in writing first.
How we protect your information
The Firm maintains a written AI Use Policy that governs the Firm's use of AI tools. The Policy is reviewed at least annually and on any material change. Among other safeguards, the Policy provides:
- Each AI tool is reviewed before the Firm approves it for use, including the provider's terms, retention, training, security, and subprocessor practices.
- Tools are classified into tiers; only Tier 1 tools, with appropriate contractual protections, are used for confidential client information.
- Consumer and free-tier AI tools (the free or personal versions of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Copilot, among others) are not used for firm or client work.
- All attorneys and staff complete training on the AI tools they are authorized to use before any use begins.
- AI-assisted research, drafting, and citations are independently verified before any AI-assisted document is filed with a tribunal, delivered to a client, or sent to opposing counsel.
- Responsible attorneys at the Firm review and approve AI-assisted work product before it leaves the Firm.
- Incident-response procedures stay current, and the Firm notifies affected clients where required by applicable rules.
Your rights
- Right to information. You may ask, at any time, whether and how AI was used on your matter. The Firm answers accurately and promptly.
- Right to a current schedule of tools. Clients with an active matter may write to the contact below to request the Firm's current schedule of approved AI tools.
- Right to consent or decline. When the Firm proposes matter-specific AI use that involves your confidential information in a tool that retains or trains on submitted content, the Firm asks for your informed consent first. You may decline without consequence to your representation.
- Right to revoke consent. Consent may be revoked at any time and for any reason. Revocation applies prospectively from the date of receipt.
- Right to restrict matter-specific use. Write to the contact below to instruct the Firm not to use AI tools on your matter, or to limit AI use to specific categories of work.
These rights are in addition to any rights you have under applicable state, federal, or international privacy law. Where those laws provide additional rights (for example, regarding personal data subject to a state consumer-privacy statute), those rights apply as well.
Contact
Questions, requests, and revocations may be sent to:
[Name and title]
[Firm Name]
[Address]
[Phone]
[Email]
Effective [date]. Version [1.0]. Reviewed at least annually, and on any material change to the Firm's AI tools or practices.
How to publish and maintain it
- Publish on the Firm website. The Notice lives at a stable URL alongside the Firm's privacy policy. Common path:
/notices/ai/or/legal/ai-notice/. Link from the website footer. - Provide with engagement documents. New clients receive the current version of the Notice at engagement, alongside the engagement letter and any other intake materials.
- Notify on material change. When the Notice changes in a material way (a new processing category, a new client right, a new tier of tool), notify active-matter clients in writing. Cosmetic edits do not require client notice.
- Maintain the schedule of tools. The Notice references a "schedule of approved AI tools" without including the schedule itself. Maintain that schedule separately and provide it on request. This pattern lets the Firm update the tool list without re-noticing every client.
- Cross-reference the Policy and Consent Form. The Notice is the public face. Policy Template is the internal governance document, and Informed Consent Form is the matter-specific instrument. Each refers to the others to keep all three consistent.
Notice mapped to ABA Formal Opinion 512 (July 2024) and the IARDC Implementing AI Guide. Pairs with the Policy Template and the Informed Consent Form. Last verified 2026-04-29.