Kaufman Ops

AI settings for a small law firm in New Mexico

Checked against the source documents on October 26, 2026

New Mexico Formal Opinion 2024-004 tells lawyers to find out whether a tool shares data with third parties or stores and uses it to train its own AI. The settings that answer that are on the main checklist. This page says which ones New Mexico points at, and why.

What New Mexico has said

State Bar of New Mexico Ethics Advisory Committee: Formal Opinion 2024-004, Using Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Practice of Law, 2024-09-24.

  1. Confidentiality. Rule 16-106 squarely implicated; lawyers must take active, well-informed steps: understand tool policies, avoid tools lacking adequate protections, anonymize client information (pp. 3-4).
  2. Competence. Responsible use is consistent with Rule 16-101; comment 9 requires keeping abreast of benefits and risks of relevant technology; lawyers must tailor use to practice, matter and client (pp. 2-3).
  3. Supervision. Rules 16-501 and 16-503: before using generative AI, develop policies and procedures, train all lawyers and staff, and periodically review compliance (p. 8).
  4. Fees. Rule 16-105: bill only time actually spent, not time saved; tool costs may be passed through only if client is told the actual cost and the intent to charge in writing before representation (pp. 6-7).
  5. Disclosure. Must know and follow court, agency and local rules on whether AI use is allowed and what disclosure is required (pp. 3, 6); client discussion required in listed situations (p. 9).
  6. Verification. Independently verify all AI research, citations and analysis; do not use the same tool to check itself; correct any errors or it is a knowing misrepresentation (pp. 5-6).

The line about the tool itself. Lawyer should determine whether the tool shares data with third parties, stores and uses data to train its own AI, and has adequate security against unintended access (p. 4); conflicts section repeats the training-storage concern (p. 7). (p. 4, Section I (Confidentiality), first enumerated step)

One line from it: "must not entirely rely on the Generative AI tool" (Opinion 2024-004, p. 5, Section II (Candor)).

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. Put the vendor's written terms on training, retention, subprocessors and breach notice in the file. On the checklist
  7. Write the one-page staff instruction and a note for each new hire. On the checklist
  8. Keep a verification step before anything is filed. That is a procedure, not a setting, and no vendor sells it. On the checklist
  9. 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. Rule 16-101 NMRA cmt. 9 (benefits and risks associated with relevant technology), quoted in Opinion 2024-004 p. 2; approved Nov. 1, 2013, effective Dec.

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.