Carolyn Austin, director of practice innovation at K&L Gates, said while GenAI is being increasingly adopted by lawyers and law firms to enhance productivity, it does not absolve them of their legal and ethical responsibilities. “Lawyers have duties, including confidentiality, clear communication with clients, and partners have a duty to supervise lawyers and others reporting to them in their teams when they are carrying out the work, including appropriate use of generative AI technology. On the flip side, lawyers also have a duty of competence, which explicitly includes understanding the capacity and limitations of technology, including GenAI, and periodically updating that understanding. We can’t opt out. All of which underlines the need for thoughtful, internal AI governance policies and processes and for regular, thorough and targeted GenAI education.”
