AI Rules for District of Columbia Law Firms
Last verified July 8, 2026
The District of Columbia has already amended its Rules of Professional Conduct to fold generative AI into the baseline duty of competence, and its bar ethics opinion spells out what that means in practice. If a client, carrier, or opposing counsel asks how your firm vets and verifies AI tools, both instruments are already in effect and give a direct answer.
Where DC Stands
DC Court of Appeals Order No. M284-24 took effect May 6, 2025, amending Comment 5 to Rule 1.1 so that keeping abreast of technology, including generative AI, is now part of a lawyer's baseline duty of competence. The same order made companion changes to Rules 1.6, 3.8, 4.4, and 5.3 touching confidentiality and supervision of nonlawyer assistants. Separately, DC Bar Ethics Opinion 388, Attorneys' Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Client Matters, was issued in April 2024 and remains the operative guidance on how those duties apply to AI specifically.
What Your Firm Must Do
Under Ethics Opinion 388, your firm must understand a generative AI tool before using it on client matters, including vetting whether the vendor retains or trains on client data. The opinion treats generative AI as unreliable for fact- and cite-checking, so outputs must be independently verified before use, and firms may only bill clients for actual time spent, not time saved by the tool. The Rule 1.1 amendment from Order M284-24 reinforces this by making technological competence, and by extension AI competence, an ongoing obligation rather than a one-time check. The order's changes to Rule 5.3 also mean your firm's supervision obligations for nonlawyer assistants extend to how staff use AI tools on client work.
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