California legislators are nearing the final steps to create a first-in-the-nation law for the legal industry, establishing ethical expectations and guardrails for lawyers and arbitrators in the state on the use of generative artificial intelligence.

Senate Bill 574 requires a full floor vote in both the state Assembly and Senate by the Aug. 31 legislative session deadline. The bill, which has undergone amendments since its bipartisan approval in the Senate in January, has encountered little legislative resistance thus far but will need to be advanced by the legislature’s fiscal appropriations committees on Aug. 13. It received support from the California State Assembly’s judiciary and privacy and consumer protection committees. Once the bill has final approval by both legislative bodies, it will need to be signed into law or vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).

Introduced by state Sen. Thomas Umberg (D), the bill codifies guidance from the California Judicial Council on AI use, including requiring that lawyers verify the accuracy of all AI-generated content, correct any errors or hallucinations, and disclose AI use to the court in all submitted documents. Similarly, arbitrators are prohibited from delegating any part of their decision-making process to AI. Violators would be subject to sanctions from the California State Bar.

Read more here: Bloomberg Law