Kaufman Ops

AI settings for a small law firm in Illinois

Checked against the source documents on October 26, 2026

The ARDC's Illinois guide on AI says a tool that trains on your inputs by default is a consumer-grade safeguard, and the opt-out setting is what moves it toward business-grade. The settings that answer that are on the main checklist. This page says which ones Illinois points at, and why.

What Illinois has said

Illinois Supreme Court: Illinois Supreme Court Policy on Artificial Intelligence, 2025-01-01.

  1. Confidentiality. Policy para. 5: AI applications must not compromise sensitive information, confidential communications, PII, PHI, justice and public safety data or security information.
  2. Competence. Policy para. 4: users must understand both general AI capabilities and the specific tools being used; ARDC Guide ties this to Ill. R. Prof. Conduct 1.1 cmt. [8] (Guide p. 4).
  3. Supervision. The Policy says the Rules of Professional Conduct apply in full and users are accountable for the final work product; ARDC Guide sample policy makes a supervising attorney confirm applicable court AI rules before filing (App. 4, p. 41 area).
  4. Fees. Not addressed in the Policy or the ARDC Guide.
  5. Disclosure. Policy para. 3: disclosure of AI use should not be required in a pleading. ARDC Guide: client notice recommended (sample notice App. 3).
  6. Verification. Policy para. 4: all users must thoroughly review AI-generated content before submitting it in any court proceeding and are accountable for their final work product; unsubstantiated or deliberately misleading AI content will not be tolerated.

The line about the tool itself. Yes (ARDC Guide, not the Policy): a tool that trains by default but lets users opt out of model training moves toward business-level safeguards; actual safeguards, not marketing labels, matter (Guide p. 13); Terms of Use section (8) says obtain written contractual assurances (p. 16); (ARDC Guide p. 13 (Step 2, Table 2 discussion) and App. 2, p. 37)

One line from it: "Disclosure of AI use should not be required in a pleading." (Policy para. 3).

The settings that answer it

  1. Use the business plan, not a personal one. On Claude Pro, Claude Max and ChatGPT Plus, training on chats is each user's own setting. On Claude Team, ChatGPT Business and Microsoft 365 Copilot with a work sign-in, business data is not used for training by default. On the checklist
  2. Turn off the training and feedback exceptions an admin can still turn off (Claude feedback, ChatGPT personal accounts that are still in use). On the checklist
  3. Set retention on purpose instead of taking the default. On the checklist
  4. Turn on single sign-on so a lawyer who leaves loses access the same day. On the checklist
  5. Decide on connectors, apps and agents before staff add them. On the checklist
  6. Pick a rule on memory, and teach temporary or incognito chats for one-off matter questions. On the checklist
  7. Put the vendor's written terms on training, retention, subprocessors and breach notice in the file. On the checklist
  8. Write the one-page staff instruction and a note for each new hire. On the checklist
  9. Keep a verification step before anything is filed. That is a procedure, not a setting, and no vendor sells it. On the checklist
  10. Decide what the engagement letter says about AI use and billing. That is yours to write; I only flag that the opinion raises it. On the checklist

Rules around it

Technology competence: Yes. Ill. Sup. Ct. R. Prof'l Conduct 1.1, cmt. [8], effective 2016-01-01 (ARDC Guide p. 4 cites it)

Court rule on AI in filings: Illinois Supreme Court Policy on Artificial Intelligence, announced December 2024, effective 2025-01-01. What it asks of the signer: none (disclosure should not be required); accountability for work product.

In motion: Policy states the Court will regularly reassess its rules and policy; no proposed rule or comment deadline found. The first pass ISBA AI committee URL now returns 404 and the ISBA standing committees list shows no AI committee. source

What this page is not

This is a tech settings page, not legal advice. The state document above is the ethics half and it is yours to read and decide on. I am not a lawyer. I link the source so you can check me.

Send me one screenshot

Crop out client names, send me a screenshot of your Claude, ChatGPT or Microsoft 365 admin settings page, and I'll write back what I'd change. Free. I never need a login.

If you want this kept current for your firm, that is the monthly desk: I watch these settings as the vendors change them and as your state changes its guidance, answer staff questions in writing, usually within one business day, and write up setup notes for each new hire. $500 a month, cancel any month.

Email nick@kaufmanops.com

Who wrote this

Nick Kaufman

I'm Nick Kaufman. I've spent six years in customer-facing technical support for SaaS, payments and CRM software, including three years at Tier 2 on a CRM built for financial advisors, whose firms work under SEC and FINRA rules. I'm not a lawyer and I don't give legal advice. I set up software so it does what the people responsible for it decided it should do.

Other states: the full list.