In 2023, under the leadership of State Bar President Cindy Tisdale, the State Bar of Texas formed the Taskforce for Responsible AI in the Law (TRAIL) to address the growing impact of AI on the legal profession. TRAIL worked to identify ways that the emergence of new AI technology might affect the practice of law and how lawyers, judges, and the State Bar should respond. The work of TRAIL focuses on crafting guidelines, navigating challenges, and embracing the potential of AI within the legal profession. To that end, in 2024 TRAIL requested an ethics opinion addressing the ethical issues that may be implicated by the use of generative AI in the practice of law. Opinion 705 provides such an overview; however, this AI Toolkit attempts to provide additional information useful to Texas attorneys as they navigate the implementation of AI into their practices. 

It is important to distinguish between AI that has already been integrated into technology for many years in such applications as autocorrect, text editors, search algorithms, and chatbots and AI that specifically includes models that create new, original content such as text, images, or music based on the data they have been trained on. TRAIL has focused its efforts primarily on the potential effects of generative AI on the legal profession. Many future AI systems will consist of a variety of computational tools, from rules-driven AI, databases, and knowledge graphs to machine learning and generative AI tools.  

TRAIL envisions a future where the integration of AI in the legal profession is innovative, intentional, and principled. Striving to lead the way in Texas and beyond, TRAIL's focus is on crafting standards and guidelines that enhance legal practice through the implementation and incorporation of AI tools, without sacrificing the core values of justice, fairness, and trust. Beginning in June of 2025, the State Bar of Texas Emerging Technology Committee will assume the work begun by TRAIL. This newly formed standing committee is charged with identifying and researching emerging technologies and their impact on the practice of law and on the justice system; making recommendations to the State Bar Board of Directors on ways the Bar might leverage the opportunities presented by emerging technologies, and educating attorneys and the public about any risks those technologies may present and how to mitigate them. The ongoing curation of the AI Toolkit is an important part of this mission.