You can use AI in a trusts practice. Opinion 512 sets the conditions

Disclosure: I co-founded Mitosis Labs, which runs Private SuperIntelligence. This is an adaptation of the original guide written for trusts and estates lawyers. General information, not legal advice. State bar rules vary.

You can use AI in a trusts and estates practice, but ABA Formal Opinion 512 (July 29, 2024) sets the conditions: understand the tool, read its terms, get the client's informed consent before entering information relating to the representation into a self-learning tool, and supervise the vendor like any other outside provider.

The rules, and the plan

You "need not become GAI experts", but you need "a reasonable understanding of the capabilities and limitations" of the tool. For "self-learning" tools, informed consent is required first. The opinion is direct about boilerplate: "merely adding general, boiler-plate provisions to engagement letters purporting to authorize the lawyer to use GAI is not sufficient."

Anthropic's Free, Pro and Max users choose whether chats train Claude (five years if they allow it, 30 days if not). Those consumer terms do not apply to Claude for Work or the API. OpenAI's Free, Plus and Pro may train unless you turn off "Improve the model for everyone". Business, Enterprise, Edu and the API do not train by default.

In United States v. Heppner (S.D.N.Y., February 2026), Judge Jed S. Rakoff held that a defendant's own chats with consumer Claude were not confidential, citing a policy that may disclose data to "governmental regulatory authorities". The opinion did not decide how an enterprise tool would fare.

We built Private SuperIntelligence as an AI concierge Mitosis Labs sets up and runs for one family, from the hardware to the choice of model provider to where the data is stored. The provider keeps no copy of the work.

Private SuperIntelligence takes a limited number of families at a time so every one gets the same standard of service. Book a private call (ref EPA1-DEV) to talk through your office with Alex Morris.

Prakshal Jain (PJ), Co-founder and CTO, Private SuperIntelligence (by Mitosis Labs)

Alexander Morris, Co-founder and CEO, Private SuperIntelligence (by Mitosis Labs)

Originally published at privatesuperintelligence.si.

Sources: Formal Opinion 512, Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools, American Bar Association, July 29, 2024, https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/professional_responsibility/ethics-opinions/aba-formal-opinion-512.pdf ; Memorandum, United States v. Heppner, No. 25 Cr. 503 (JSR) (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 17, 2026), https://www.hrlegalist.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2026/03/1-United-States-v.-Heppner.pdf ; Proskauer, February 18, 2026, https://www.proskauer.com/alert/sdny-addresses-privilege-and-work-product-implications-of-using-unsecured-public-AI-tools ; Anthropic, August 28, 2025, https://www.anthropic.com/news/updates-to-our-consumer-terms ; Is ChatGPT safe for confidential information, https://privatesuperintelligence.si/blog/is-chatgpt-safe-for-confidential-information/