Key takeaways
- Five areas to check: ethics duties, call consent, advertising and solicitation, confidentiality and prospective clients, recording and privacy laws.
- ABA Formal Opinion 512 (2024) applies existing duties to AI. It is guidance, not law.
- The FCC has said AI-generated voices are artificial voices under the TCPA, so consent rules apply to AI calls.
- Every state differs. This guide is general information. Your ethics counsel decides what applies to you.
What rules apply when a law firm uses AI to contact leads?
No single rule covers it. Five bodies of rules overlap, and each varies by jurisdiction. This guide is general information for firm owners in any state. It is not legal advice, and it cannot replace your own ethics counsel.
1. Do lawyer ethics duties apply to AI tools?
Yes. The American Bar Association’s Formal Opinion 512, issued July 29, 2024, applies the existing Model Rules on competence, confidentiality, communication and supervision to lawyers’ use of generative AI. It does not endorse or ban particular tools. ABA opinions are not law, but many state bars look to them, and a growing number of state bars and courts have issued their own AI guidance.
In practice, a lawyer remains responsible for what an AI tool says and does on the firm’s behalf, including a tool that talks to prospective clients.
2. Do AI-voice calls need consent?
In February 2024 the Federal Communications Commission adopted a declaratory ruling that AI-generated voices are “artificial” under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Law firm commentary on the ruling says calls using such voices generally need the called person’s consent. It also says the ruling did not ban the technology, and that whether the stricter prior express written consent standard applies depends on whether the call is telemarketing or advertising.
We did not verify whether the ruling has been changed or challenged since 2024. Ask your counsel to confirm its current status, and to review state telemarketing and “mini-TCPA” laws, which can be stricter.
3. Do advertising and solicitation rules apply?
Every state has rules modeled on Model Rules 7.1 to 7.3: no false or misleading communications, conditions on advertising, and limits on lawyer-initiated contact. Many states add rules specific to accident and injury cases.
South Carolina offers a clear example. Its Rule 7.3 restricts live telephone and real-time electronic solicitation when a significant motive is the lawyer’s financial gain, and includes a 30-day restriction for personal injury and accident matters. Its Comment [1] says a solicitation is a lawyer-initiated message to a specific person, and that replies to a request for information are not solicitations. Other states word and number these rules differently, and some set their own waiting periods. See our advertising and solicitation rules guide.
The practical point: a call that answers a person’s own request for help is treated very differently from a cold call. The ad form wording matters, because it is what shows the person asked.
4. What about confidentiality and prospective clients?
Model Rule 1.18 gives people who consult a lawyer about possible representation certain duties of confidentiality, even if no client relationship follows. Rule 1.6 covers confidentiality of client information, and Rule 5.3 covers supervising non-lawyer assistants. Call notes and recordings can hold sensitive facts. Know where they are stored, who can read them, and how long they are kept.
5. Do recording and privacy laws apply?
Call-recording consent differs by state, and some states require every party to agree. Some states also regulate automated calls, personal data and, increasingly, disclosure that a person is speaking with AI. Counsel should check the states where your leads live, which may not be only your own.
What should you ask your ethics counsel?
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Who must approve the script, and how do we record that approval? | The lawyer stays responsible for what the tool says on the firm’s behalf. |
| What consent wording should the ad form carry for calls, texts and recording? | Consent rules for artificial voices and recording differ by state. |
| Does our state treat a call that answers a form enquiry as solicitation? | The answer depends on how your state words Rule 7.3 and its comments. |
| What accident-specific waiting periods or restrictions apply in our state? | Some states add them for personal injury matters. |
| Where may call data live, and for how long? | Confidentiality and prospective-client duties apply to what the call collects. |
| Must we tell people they are speaking with AI? | Disclosure rules are developing and vary. |
| What happens when someone asks to stop or to speak to a person? | Opt-out handling is a core compliance point. |
What does SouthSeas Marketing do about this?
Your firm reviews ad wording before anything runs, agrees what the AI voice assistant says, and owns every account. We ask for the least access we need, and do not keep copies of lead data. We recommend ad-form wording that tells people a call is coming, and that your firm’s counsel approves it for your state. We do not give legal advice.
Want this worked out for your firm? The free 20-minute growth audit looks at your ads and how new leads are handled today, and you keep the written plan. Book my free growth audit.