Va. Cir. Ct. (Richmond): Local Rule on Artificial Intelligence (Circuit Court of the City…
Entered by Chief Judge Jacqueline S. McClenney · Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, John Marshall Courts Building
Verified September 28, 2026
- Citation
- Local Rule on Artificial Intelligence (Circuit Court of the City of Richmond, Virginia)
- Order date
- January 13, 2026
Summary
'The use of artificial intelligence ("AI") tools is not prohibited in this Court.'
What does the order require?
- 'The use of artificial intelligence ("AI") tools is not prohibited in this Court.'
- 'All attorneys and pro se litigants alike shall henceforth provide a disclosure in the form of a certification at the end of, or attached to, filings disclosing the use of AI in any pleading, exhibit to any pleading, memoranda, sketch order, or any other filing.'
- 'All attorneys and pro se litigants shall also, ten (10) days before any trial or evidentiary hearing, file a certification disclosing the use of AI in any proposed exhibits (including demonstrative exhibits).'
- 'Consistent with Virginia Code § 8.01-271.1(B), all parties employing AI bear the burden of exercising due care in reviewing filings before their submission to the Court to ensure they are "hallucination-free"' and otherwise well grounded in fact and law.
- 'The failure to properly review filings that have been drafted, created, enhanced, or modified in any way by generative AI tools may violate the certification standard set forth in Va. Code § 8.01-271.1(B).'
- A model disclosure is attached to the rule.
Practice areas: state civil, state criminal
What the rule requires
The Circuit Court of the City of Richmond adopted this local rule under Virginia Supreme Court Rule 1:15, entered January 13, 2026. It opens by permitting AI use (“The use of artificial intelligence (‘AI’) tools is not prohibited in this Court”) and then imposes two disclosure duties on “all attorneys and pro se litigants alike”:
- Filings. A certification “at the end of, or attached to, filings disclosing the use of AI in any pleading, exhibit to any pleading, memoranda, sketch order, or any other filing.”
- Proposed exhibits. “Ten (10) days before any trial or evidentiary hearing,” a certification “disclosing the use of AI in any proposed exhibits (including demonstrative exhibits).”
The exhibit certification is unusual. Most AI rules address briefs and motions; this one reaches evidence a party intends to offer, including demonstratives, on a fixed pre-trial deadline.
The review duty
The rule grounds its accuracy expectation in Virginia’s signature statute: “Consistent with Virginia Code § 8.01-271.1(B), all parties employing AI bear the burden of exercising due care in reviewing filings before their submission to the Court to ensure they are ‘hallucination-free’ and are otherwise well grounded in fact and warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law.” Failing to review filings “drafted, created, enhanced, or modified in any way by generative AI tools may violate” that statutory certification standard.
The model disclosure
The rule attaches a model form:
“I hereby certify that artificial intelligence (‘AI’) tools were utilized in the drafting, creation, enhancement, or modification of the instant filing. Pursuant to the duty found in Va. Code § 8.01-271.1(B), notwithstanding the assistance from AI tools, to the best of my knowledge, the content of this filing is well grounded in fact and is warranted by existing law or a good faith argument for the extension, modification, or reversal of existing law. I acknowledge that this certification only applies to the instant filing.”
Scope
The rule governs filings in the Circuit Court of the City of Richmond. It is a local rule of one circuit court, not a statewide Virginia rule. In federal court in Richmond, Chief Judge Lauck’s standing order applies to her civil cases.
Primary source
Local Rule on Artificial Intelligence (entered Jan. 13, 2026) (scanned PDF)