Professional responsibility
Texas Opinion 705 and the AI Supervision Question
May 8, 2026
By Stephen Walther, founder of DraftWorks, former Microsoft product manager, and State Bar of Texas approved MCLE sponsor.
A plain-English look at how supervision, confidentiality, and competence duties apply when lawyers use generative AI tools.
Texas Opinion 705 is a useful reminder that AI does not remove the lawyer from the center of the work. The professional responsibility questions still start with competence, confidentiality, supervision, and communication.
When lawyers use AI in drafting or analysis, they need to understand enough about the tool and workflow to supervise the result. That includes knowing what information is being sent, where it goes, and how the output will be checked.
Supervision should be designed into the process before the tool is used on client work. A firm should know who may use the system, what tasks are approved, and what review is required.
The practical lesson is simple: AI workflows should make attorney review easier to perform and document, not easier to skip.