Can lawyers use ChatGPT with client documents? Confidentiality and generative AI
Short answer: only with care. In the US, ABA Formal Opinion 512 says that before putting client information into a generative AI tool that may learn from it, you generally need the client's informed consent, and a boilerplate line in the engagement letter isn't enough. If the identifying information never reaches the tool, that problem largely goes away.
What ABA Formal Opinion 512 says
The ABA's first formal ethics opinion on generative AI, issued July 29, 2024, applies existing Model Rules to AI tools: competence (1.1), confidentiality (1.6), communication (1.4) and fees (1.5).
- Confidentiality. Client information entered into a self-learning tool could later be disclosed to others, or surface for other users or even other matters inside your firm.
- Consent. Before using such a tool with client information, explain the tool and its risks and get the client's informed consent. General, boilerplate engagement-letter language does not meet that standard.
- Due diligence. Read the tool's terms and privacy policy, and check internal access controls and ethical walls, before inputting anything.
- Fees. You can bill for time actually spent using and reviewing a tool on a matter, but generally not for learning how to use it.
In Canada: the Law Society of Alberta's guidance
The Law Society of Alberta's quick tips (updated July 2025) tell lawyers to keep anything entered into generative AI confidential and secure, including privileged material and client data. They warn that free AI products are unlikely to protect the confidentiality of what you give them, and that output must be checked for accuracy, since courts have sanctioned lawyers who filed AI hallucinations. Other provincial law societies have issued similar guidance; check yours.
A practical workflow
- Mask before you paste. Replace party names, file and court numbers, addresses, account numbers and dates of birth with consistent tags.
- Use a paid business plan with training turned off, never a free consumer account.
- Ask the question on the masked text: summarize the lease, flag unusual clauses, draft the reply letter.
- Restore and review. Swap the real names back in, then verify every citation and fact as you would a junior's draft.
- Record it. Note in the file what was sent and what was masked.
Court File No. 2401-0532 → Court File No. [CASE_NUMBER_1]
Premises: 88 Lakeview Drive → Premises: [ADDRESS_1]
Masking doesn't replace your judgment about whether the facts themselves could identify the client. A well-known dispute described in detail can be recognizable without a single name. When in doubt, get consent.
Do this in one step with Stand-In
Drop in a PDF, scan, Word or Excel file. Stand-In swaps every name, SIN/SSN, account number and address for a tag like [PERSON_1], then puts the real details back in the AI's answer. It runs on your device; nothing is uploaded.
Sources: ABA, ABA issues first ethics guidance on AI tools · National Law Review on Opinion 512 · Law Society of Alberta, Generative AI quick tips