As per a report by Baker McKenzie, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 574 on September 30, 2026, with effect from January 1, 2027, in what the firm describes as the first state law to regulate attorneys' use of generative AI. Holland & Knight reports that the law adds Section 6068.1 to the Business and Professions Code, under which an attorney "shall not delegate the practice of law" to generative AI, may not enter confidential, personally identifying or other nonpublic information into a system unless access is restricted to the attorney and persons authorised under confidentiality obligations, and must take reasonable steps to verify the accuracy of outputs, including citations, and correct errors. It also amends Code of Civil Procedure Section 128.7 so that a court filing may not contain a citation the responsible attorney has not personally verified, whether or not AI was used, with violations handled under existing sanctions.

Attorneys using generative AI must disclose that use to courts "for all documents submitted to the court," though Holland & Knight notes it is unclear whether that is document-specific or practice-wide. The law also bars arbitrators from delegating any aspect of decision-making to AI tools and sets up a complaint process for alternative dispute resolution providers.