AI Disclosure — Trial Commander

Effective Date: September 1, 2026

⚠ LEGAL REVIEW REQUIRED This is a template drafted to SaaS industry standards and Florida Bar considerations (incl. FL Bar Ethics Op. 24-1 on generative AI). Before publishing, have it reviewed by outside counsel competent in SaaS contracts, Florida privacy law, and legal-industry regulatory requirements.

This document describes how Trial Commander uses artificial intelligence (AI) and what this means for your obligations as a Florida attorney.

1. What AI Features Are Included

Trial Commander uses Anthropic's Claude API for these features:

AI features are always optional. You can use Trial Commander without using AI features. Attorneys can disable AI features for their firm.

2. How Your Data Is Protected

2.1 Data Retention with Anthropic

Trial Commander sends AI requests to Anthropic's commercial API. Under Anthropic's commercial terms:

• ✅ Your data is used to generate the AI response
• ✅ Anthropic does NOT use your data to train models — in any retention mode
• ✅ Data is encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and during processing

Retention mode. Trial Commander operates in one of two modes, and the active mode is always reflected in the application (Settings → AI monthly limits → Data retention):

• Zero Data Retention (ZDR): once Anthropic activates ZDR on our account, Anthropic retains nothing after the response is generated. We have requested this configuration and will operate under it as soon as Anthropic confirms activation.
• Standard retention (current default until ZDR is active): Anthropic may retain API inputs and outputs for a limited operational period (approximately 30 days) for abuse and safety monitoring, after which they are deleted. They are not used for training and are not accessible for any other purpose.

Firm choices. A firm that requires zero retention before using cloud AI may (a) enable "Require zero retention" in Settings, which pauses the firm's cloud AI until ZDR is active; (b) connect the firm's own Anthropic API key, in which case requests run under the firm's own agreement with Anthropic; or (c) use per-matter local AI, which never sends matter content off the firm's machine.

2.2 In-Product Protections

• AI responses are not shared between firms (each firm's data is isolated)
• AI-processed data is logged to the audit trail (what was sent, when, to whom) but the AI response content itself is not retained beyond your session unless you save it to a matter
• You control what data is sent — the system sends only what's needed for the specific feature

3. Your Ethical Obligations

Using AI does not change your ethical duties as a Florida attorney. Under Florida Bar rules:

3.1 Competence — Rule 4-1.1

You must provide "competent representation." The Florida Bar's November 2023 opinion 24-1 clarifies that:

• You must understand what AI can and cannot do
• You must supervise AI output as you would a junior associate's work
• You must verify citations, quotes, and legal conclusions in AI output before filing or relying on them
• You must not outsource your judgment to AI

3.2 Confidentiality — Rule 4-1.6

Under Rule 4-1.6(e):

• You must take reasonable precautions against unauthorized disclosure of client information
• Using cloud services (including AI) requires informing clients or including cloud use in your engagement letter
• Trial Commander's safeguards (no training on your data, limited or zero retention, encryption) are reasonable precautions, but you remain responsible for disclosing AI use to clients

3.3 Supervision — Rule 4-5.3

AI is a "nonlawyer assistant" under Rule 4-5.3:

• You are responsible for AI output as if produced by a nonlawyer under your supervision
• You cannot delegate attorney judgment to AI
• You must review and adopt AI output as your own work product before filing it

3.4 Candor to Tribunal — Rule 4-3.3

You must not make false statements of law or fact. This includes:

• Not filing AI-generated citations without verification (AI can "hallucinate" citations)
• Not representing AI output as your own independent legal analysis without review
• Disclosing AI use where court rules require it (check your specific court)

3.5 Fees — Rule 4-1.5

You may charge for time reviewing and editing AI output, but:

• You may not charge for the AI's own "work"
• You must be transparent with clients about AI use affecting efficiency

4. Suggested Client Disclosure Language

Consider adding to your fee agreement or engagement letter:

"The Firm may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including Trial Commander's integration with Anthropic's Claude, to assist with legal research, document drafting, and case analysis. Client information may be sent to these AI services under commercial terms that prohibit the AI provider from training on or disclosing client data and strictly limit any retention. All AI output is reviewed and supervised by an attorney before use. Client consents to this use of AI."

This is a template suggestion. Have counsel review it for your practice.

5. What NOT to Send to AI

As a precaution, avoid sending to AI features:

• Social Security numbers (no valid use case)
• Credit card numbers or bank account numbers
• Medical records containing detailed patient identifiers (use redacted versions)
• Trade secrets or privileged information of third parties (non-clients)
• Content that is subject to protective orders

The Trial Commander AI features don't need this data and you should redact before pasting.

6. What the AI CANNOT Do

AI features:

• Cannot file documents on your behalf
• Cannot electronically sign pleadings
• Cannot give legal advice to your clients (only to you, and subject to your review)
• Cannot access other firms' data or other clients' matters
• Cannot access the internet in real-time (except where we explicitly enable it for legal research)
• Cannot remember conversations between sessions (unless we save them to your matter)

7. Malpractice Risk

AI output can contain errors including:

• Hallucinated citations — AI can invent case names, citations, or quote text that doesn't exist. Always verify in Westlaw, Lexis, or free sources.
• Outdated law — AI training data has a cutoff date and may not reflect recent cases or rule changes
• Jurisdiction errors — AI may cite non-Florida law when Florida law applies
• Procedural errors — AI may not know your specific court's local rules

You are responsible for catching these errors before filing. Attorneys have been sanctioned for filing AI-generated briefs with fake citations. See Mata v. Avianca, Inc., 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107536 (S.D.N.Y. 2023).

8. Verification Checklist

Before filing or sending any AI-generated content:

• I have read the full output
• I have verified every case citation by pulling the actual case
• I have verified quotations are accurate
• I have confirmed cited statutes and rules still exist in their cited form
• The output applies Florida law (not another state's law unless appropriate)
• The output complies with my specific court's local rules and formatting requirements
• I have added my own legal judgment, not just adopted the AI's conclusions
• I have disclosed AI use to my client where appropriate
• I have redacted any info that shouldn't have been in the prompt

9. Opting Out

You can disable AI features for your firm at any time:

• Firm Admins: Settings → AI Features → Disable
• Effect: Immediate; no existing AI-generated content is deleted, but no new data is sent to AI

10. Updates to This Disclosure

As AI technology and Florida Bar guidance evolve, we may update this disclosure. Material changes require 30 days' notice. The current version is always at https://www.trialcommander.com/ai-disclosure.

11. Questions

• General: support@trialcommander.com
• AI-specific: ai@trialcommander.com
• Privacy/security: privacy@trialcommander.com

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Template version 1.0. Florida attorneys remain responsible for compliance with Florida Bar rules and court orders regarding AI disclosure in their specific matters.