Effective June 1, 2026, the New York State Unified Court System has adopted a new rule, Part 161 of the Rules of the Chief Administrator, titled “Use of Artificial Intelligence Technology.” The new rule applies to all courts of the Unified Court System, in both civil and criminal cases.
The rule defines “artificial intelligence” (“AI”) as
a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations or decisions influencing real or virtual environments, and that uses machine- and human-based inputs to perceive real and virtual environments, abstract such perceptions into models through analysis in an automated manner, and use model inference to formulate options for information or action. (Section 161.2.)
The rule embodies the following policy:
[T]he use by attorneys and parties of artificial intelligence tools in preparing papers submitted to a court should not be prohibited, as long as such use is in accordance with the duties and responsibilities that apply to individuals who submit papers to a court. Since those duties and responsibilities already apply to all submissions, regardless of whether AI tools were used, attorneys and parties should not be required, upon submitting papers, to disclose to the court that they have used AI in the preparation of such papers. (Section 161.3.)
It provides the following Model Rule as to the use of AI technology in preparing court papers:
Every attorney or party who uses an artificial intelligence (AI) tool in preparing any paper submitted to this court is expected to understand that tool’s capabilities and limitations. Attorneys and parties need to be aware that AI tools, among other risks and limitations, can generate fabricated information or fictitious citations to authority (commonly known as hallucinations). Under existing authority, by signing a paper and submitting it to this court, an attorney or party certifies that the paper does not contain any false material factual statement or any frivolous legal argument Cree, e.g, 22 NYCRR 130-1.1, 130-1.1a), and an attorney who submits any paper to this court is additionally bound by the Rules of Professional Conduct. Accordingly, any attorney or party who uses an artificial intelligence tool, as defined in 22 NYCRR 161.2(a), in preparing any paper, as defined in 22 NYCRR 161.2(b), filed in or submitted to this court or served on another party in a case before this court is required to carefully review the paper and independently ensure that it contains no fabricated or fictitious cases, statutes, or other material. By signing such paper, an attorney or party certifies that such a review has been conducted and that the paper contains no such fabricated or fictitious content. If this court determines that this requirement has not been satisfied, such attorney or party may be subject to sanction or other remedial action. (Section 161, Appendix A.)
Accordingly, the rule confirms that New York attorneys, in connection with their practice in New York courts, may use AI technology, with the caveat that they must use this technology responsibly, and remain subject to the rules, applicable in the non-AI context, such as the Rules of Professional Conduct and Part 130.