AI settings for a small law firm in Montana
Checked against the source documents on October 26, 2026
Montana's bar has not issued an opinion on generative AI yet. That does not leave a firm here without a rule book. ABA Formal Opinion 512 fills the gap, and the settings that answer it are on the main checklist.
What Montana has said
No formal ethics opinion and no lawyer guidance on generative AI from the state bar or the state supreme court as of the check date. The closest thing on record: Montana Supreme Court: In re the Montana Rules of Evidence: Order granting additional comment period to August 18, 2026 on proposed Rule 901(c) (evidence fabricated or materially., 2026-07-23. Source.
That leaves ABA Formal Opinion 512 (July 29, 2024) as the reference most lawyers here will be measured against. It says to read a tool's terms of use and privacy policy before client information goes in, and that a self-learning tool needs the client's informed consent first.
The settings that answer it
- 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
- 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
- Set retention on purpose instead of taking the default. On the checklist
- Turn on single sign-on so a lawyer who leaves loses access the same day. On the checklist
- Decide on connectors, apps and agents before staff add them. On the checklist
- Put the vendor's written terms on training, retention, subprocessors and breach notice in the file. On the checklist
- Write the one-page staff instruction and a note for each new hire. On the checklist
- Keep a verification step before anything is filed. That is a procedure, not a setting, and no vendor sells it. On the checklist
- 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. Montana Rules of Professional Conduct, Preamble paragraph (5): competence implies keeping abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the.
In motion: Proposed Montana Rule of Evidence 901(c) (generative AI fabricated or altered evidence): Supreme Court order of 2026-07-23 in AF 07-0031 set an additional comment deadline of August 18, 2026 (an earlier order of May 18, 2026 opened a 90-day comment period on.; docket at source; Montana Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission AI working group (closed AI tools for self-represented litigants); meetings Sept 11 and Dec 4, 2026; not a lawyer-conduct rule 2026-03-06 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.
Who wrote this
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.