The New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) Presents Trust, but Verify: What Lawyers Need to Know about AI Delegation and Supervision

AI is changing how legal work gets done, but it is not changing who is responsible for it. New tools raise practical questions about what lawyers can delegate, what they must supervise, and how far their duty of competence extends when technology is part of the workflow. Lawyers do not need to understand every technical detail behind an AI tool, but they do need to understand enough to use it competently, assess its risks, and verify its outputs before relying on them.

This session examines the responsibilities that remain firmly human: exercising judgment, supervising the use of AI, and ensuring that work product is accurate, reliable, and fit to be used in practice. It will focus on the duties of competence, confidentiality, and supervision, as well as the lawyer’s obligation to stand behind work product. Attendees will leave with a practical framework for thinking about where AI can assist, where human oversight is essential, and what “trust, but verify” requires in day-to-day legal practice.