California SB 574 and the Responsible Use of Generative AI in Legal Practice

SB 574 (Chapter 858, Statutes of 2026) takes effect January 1, 2027. New Business and Professions Code section 6068.1 adds express duties for lawyers who use generative AI. Amended Code of Civil Procedure section 128.7 adds a separate personal citation verification requirement for covered court filings.

Enter client records into a system you have not vetted, and you risk breaching the statute’s access restriction on confidential and personal identifying information. Reuse a prior brief, and its citations still need personal verification regardless of source. Let co-counsel add authority shortly before filing, and you need a clear answer on who reviews it. Discover an omitted disclosure after submission, and correction duties and sanctions procedures run on separate tracks. The statute sets no prescribed disclosure form, so wording and placement become judgment calls.

You leave with a working review process: an annotated statutory overview, a tool and information review checklist, an output and citation review checklist, and illustrative disclosure language for discussion. Two scenarios, an AI-assisted client advice letter and a co-counsel brief, walk through the key decision points. The program separates what the statute requires from existing ethics duties and recommended practice, so your controls rest on judgment, not a form.