NJ Bar Warns of AI’s Impact on Billing in Guidance for Lawyers

Lawyers using AI tools must be careful not to run afoul of rules about ethical billing practices, a New Jersey State Bar Association task force warned.

AI tools for lawyers are promising to make some legal work more efficient, which “could significantly disrupt the industry’s traditional hourly billing model,” the New Jersey task force said.

“Significant use of these technologies may conflict with current billing practices” under the American Bar Association’s model rule 1.5(a)(1), the task force added. That rule describes a reasonable fee as being based on the amount of time, work, skill and difficulty a legal ...