Governor Gavin Newsom Signs AB 1651 Establishing AI Accountability for California Attorneys

SACRAMENTO, CA — California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 1651, amending the California Business and Professions Code to establish binding ethical standards and statutory guardrails for the use of generative artificial intelligence by licensed attorneys and legal technology providers.

Preventing Algorithmic Hallucinations in Judicial Proceedings

The enacted statute requires attorneys practicing in California courts to certify independent human review of all AI-generated legal briefs, case citations, and factual filings prior to court submission, establishing civil sanctions for submitting fictitious hallucinated case authorities. The law also mandates that legal practitioners disclose to clients whenever AI software is utilized to draft substantive contracts or calculate damages, and strictly prohibits generative AI models from training on confidential attorney-client privileged materials.

Governor Newsom affirmed that while California is the global capital of artificial intelligence innovation, ethical standards must protect consumers and preserve the integrity of the judicial system.

State Bar of California and Consumer Attorneys Endorse

The State Bar of California and Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) praised the legislation for codifying professional competency rules in the age of generative computing.

Legaltech developers welcomed clear compliance definitions distinguishing automated administrative transcription from substantive legal drafting.

Effective Date

Assembly Bill 1651 takes full statutory effect across all California courts and legal practices on January 1, 2027.