What Lawyers Should Know About AI and Ethics Today

Mark Palmer, Chief Counsel of the Illinois Supreme Court’s Commission on Professionalism, recently visited Schiller DuCanto & Fleck (SDF) as part of the firm’s SDF Academy training program. He delivered a timely Continuing Legal Education (CLE) session focused on the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct.

During the presentation, Palmer addressed best practices and emerging policies for the responsible use of AI in legal practice, emphasizing that attorneys must adapt to evolving technology while maintaining ethical obligations. He highlighted several key professional conduct rules:

• Rule 1.1 Competence: Modern legal competence now includes technological competence, requiring attorneys to understand the benefits, risks, and limitations of AI tools.
• Rule 1.6 Confidentiality: Law firms must ensure that the use of AI systems protects client confidentiality and safeguards sensitive data.
• Rules 5.1 and 5.3 Supervision: Attorneys must review and verify AI-generated work, ensuring accuracy and preserving the essential human judgment in legal practice.
  
  

This session is part of SDF’s continuing commitment to ensure that our attorneys remain at the forefront of educational and professional developments, maintaining our standards of excellence as the profession moves into new territory.