Kaufman Ops

AI settings for a small law firm in Mississippi

Checked against the source documents on October 26, 2026

Mississippi Bar Ethics Opinion 267 says some AI tools train on what users type and tells lawyers to read the terms of use, including privacy and retention policies. The settings that answer that are on the main checklist. This page says which ones Mississippi points at, and why.

What Mississippi has said

Ethics Committee of The Mississippi Bar: Ethics Opinion No. 267, Generative AI in the Practice of Law (text read from the ezel.ai mirror; the Bar withdrew its public PDF), 2024-11-14.

  1. Confidentiality. Rule 1.6 affirmative duty to take reasonable measures; some tools could reveal inputs to other users; avoid identifiable client data where possible (Sec. II).
  2. Competence. Rule 1.1 requires understanding benefits and risks of the GAI tool, by self-study or consulting experts; cites Opinions 263 and 259 (Sec. III).
  3. Supervision. Rules 5.1 and 5.3: managers must ensure subordinate lawyers and nonlawyers, including contractors, protect confidences and are competent with GAI; train staff, adopt policies (Secs. II, III).
  4. Fees. Rule 1.5: actual out-of-pocket third-party GAI cost billable as expense if disclosed in advance; overhead not billable; bill only actual time; learning time is overhead; flat and contingent fees must stay reasonable (Sec. IV).
  5. Disclosure. Routine use needs no disclosure unless client is charged, confidential data is at risk, or court rules require it (Sec. V).
  6. Verification. Treat GAI as a virtual assistant: trust but verify; lawyer stays fully responsible; adopts ABA analysis on how much verification; no sole reliance for tasks needing judgment (Sec. III).

The line about the tool itself. Review the tool's terms of use including privacy and data retention policies to see whether and how inputs are shared; may negotiate protective terms with providers (Sec. II). (Sec. II, para. 4 (first mitigation step))

One line from it: "the proper approach is "trust but verify."" (Sec. III, para. 5).

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: No. Miss. R. Prof. Conduct 1.1 cmt. (Maintaining Competence) reads only that a lawyer should engage in continuing study and education;

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.