AI Rules for Minnesota Law Firms
Last verified July 8, 2026
Minnesota lawyers answer to AI guidance from three different directions: the state bar's professional responsibility office, the federal district court, and the state bar association's own policy arm. None of it is a single AI statute, but together it sets real expectations for consent, verification, and what happens when AI-generated work goes wrong in front of a judge. This page lays out what each source requires.
Where Minnesota Stands
The Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility's Ethics Guidance for Generative AI Use, published in Bench and Bar of Minnesota in September 2024, says lawyers need a reasonable ongoing understanding of the AI tools they use, generally need a client's informed consent before inputting client information into third-party AI, and bear full responsibility for AI output submitted to tribunals. The U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota's GenAI FAQ requires no AI disclosure in filings but stresses that Rules 11 and 26(g) make counsel fully responsible for AI-assisted work product.
What Your Firm Must Do
The OLPR guidance directs your firm to adopt a written AI policy with training and to treat client consent before third-party AI input as a default expectation, not an edge case. The federal district court's position raises the stakes further: in Kohls v. Ellison, decided January 2025, the court struck an AI-hallucinated expert declaration, which is the clearest evidence in Minnesota of what Rule 11 exposure looks like in practice when AI output isn't verified.
What's Still Pending
The MSBA's adopted report, Implications of Large Language Models on the Unauthorized Practice of Law and Access to Justice, recommends an AI sandbox that would let vetted nonlawyer LLM tools serve consumers without unauthorized practice of law exposure. The report was adopted in July 2024 but describes a coming shift in the competitive and regulatory landscape rather than a rule in effect today, so small firms should track it rather than treat it as settled.
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