AI settings for a small law firm in Virginia

Checked against the source documents on October 26, 2026

Virginia LEO 1901 is about fees: using AI doesn't cut the fee in proportion to time saved. The confidentiality side still comes from ABA Opinion 512, which says read the tool's terms before client facts go in. The settings that answer that are on the main checklist. This page says which ones Virginia points at, and why.

What Virginia has said

Virginia State Bar Standing Committee on Legal Ethics (approved by VSB Council and Supreme Court of Virginia): Legal Ethics Opinion 1901, Reasonable Fees and the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence, 2025-11-24.

Confidentiality. Not addressed in LEO 1901 (fee opinion only).
Competence. Says effective AI use may require specialized skill to prompt, verify and integrate outputs (Analysis, p.2).
Fees. Hourly fees only for actual time; non-hourly fees may keep efficiency gains; same non-hourly fee for AI and non-AI work is not per se unreasonable (p.3); fee basis must be explained under Rule 1.5(b) (p.3-4).
Disclosure. Rule 1.5(b) may require extra explanation of fee basis when AI cuts time (p.3-4); no court disclosure discussed.
Verification. Treats expertise to identify AI hallucinations or errors as compensable skill (Analysis, p.2); no verification protocol.

One line from it: "Rule 1.5 does not equate reduced time with proportionally reduced fees" (LEO 1901, Summary, p.4 of court order).

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
Pick a rule on memory, and teach temporary or incognito chats for one-off matter questions. 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. Virginia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.1, Comment [6] (attention to benefits and risks of relevant technology), effective 2016-03-01;

In motion: Proposed LEO 1902 on duties when opposing counsel files AI-hallucinated misstatements; public comment deadline 2026-07-10; Council vote and SCV approval status not confirmed this session (web search budget exhausted). 2026-07-10 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

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.