Governance Control · Appendix A
Approved AI Tools Register
Tools Register
A working register for approved tools, permitted use cases, restrictions, and review ownership.
CounselRisk provides a practical AI governance framework for U.S. law firms that need a defensible starting point for internal adoption.
Instead of drafting policies from scratch, firms receive a structured framework with policy language, governance controls, and implementation tools designed to support confidentiality, verification, oversight, and internal decision-making.
The issue for most firms is not whether attorneys are experimenting with AI tools. The issue is whether the firm has a documented framework for deciding what is permitted, what requires review, what must be verified, and how confidentiality and client obligations are protected in practice.
GAP 01
GAP 02
GAP 03
Why This Framework
CounselRisk provides practical governance resources for firms evaluating AI use today. The full framework is for firms that need to move from ad hoc decisions and informal experimentation to documented internal governance.
Before the Prompt gives attorneys and firm leaders a practical way to assess whether a proposed AI use is appropriate before work begins.
It covers tool approval, confidentiality, sanitization, risk classification, verification expectations, and client-specific restrictions in a format designed for immediate internal use.
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The Framework
Sixteen core sections. Twelve operational appendices. Built for internal adoption – not for display.
Most firms do not need more general commentary about AI. They need a usable governance structure – clear policy language, defined approval pathways, verification expectations, and the practical tools that support internal adoption.
CounselRisk was built to move firms from informal experimentation to documented governance without starting from scratch.
What makes this a governance system, not just a document
The framework is structured for internal adoption, review, approval, and circulation as a working policy instrument. The 16 core policy sections define the governance requirements firms need most. The 12 operational appendices provide the tools to put those requirements into practice.
Purpose, definitions, risk classification, and governing principles.
Use-decision tree, practice-area quick-reference matrix, disclosure worksheet, and verification record.
Delivery
Governance Assets
Each appendix is a working governance instrument designed to support real internal adoption, not supplementary reading. Three representative appendix previews are shown below. The full framework includes 16 core policy sections and 12 operational appendices.
A working register for approved tools, permitted use cases, restrictions, and review ownership.
A structured record for deciding when disclosure should be made, considered, or documented.
A practical governance structure defining ownership, review cadence, and accountability across the firm.
Illustrative appendix previews representative of format, structure, and function. Full framework delivered immediately in PDF and editable Word.
A. Built for Legal Practice – Not Adapted From Corporate Policy
Most AI policy templates available to law firms are adapted from general corporate frameworks. They reference broad principles but often lack the regulatory specificity, operational tools, and implementation structure that law firms actually need.
The CounselRisk framework was built around ABA Model Rules and the professional responsibility obligations that govern legal practice. What distinguishes it is the operational layer: appendices and governance tools that support review, approval, risk classification, verification, and internal adoption.
The framework reflects experience from enterprise AI systems implementation, where governance failures are rarely theoretical. They appear when approval pathways are unclear, verification standards break down, or operational use expands faster than internal controls.
CounselRisk was developed to address that same gap for law firms: not by importing generic enterprise policy language, but by translating governance discipline into a form that is usable inside legal practice.
The Implementation Sprint
An AI policy is not AI governance.
A policy template takes ten minutes to download. It does not tell you which AI tools are actually in use across the firm, what client data may enter which of them, who approves a new tool, what verification standard applies before AI-assisted work goes out, or who owns all of it when a client or a carrier asks.
The Sprint installs that system in 30 days. We do the work; your partners review it.
Includes the CounselRisk Governance Framework and 12 months of framework updates. The Sprint price is not on top of the $297 framework.
30 days. Three working sessions (kickoff and discovery, review, leadership handover), with the rest asynchronous.
Up to approximately 25 tools inventoried; one revision round per document set; anything beyond is scoped separately.
From $3,500. Founding rate $2,250, in exchange for active participation and candid feedback. $1,125 to commence, $1,125 at leadership handover.
CounselRisk builds and operates the governance machinery. Jurisdiction-specific legal conclusions remain with the firm and its counsel. This is operational consulting, not legal advice.
The Sprint runs on how your firm works, not on what your firm knows.
We need: the AI tools in use and who uses them, your practice mix, your current policies and client guidelines, and access to the people who will own governance afterward.
We don't need: client files, matter content, privileged material, or access to your document management system. If your firm's client guidelines restrict where data may go, tell us on the first call. The engagement is designed to run without it.
Detailed assessment answers stay in our first-party storage and are never shared or resold. Confidentiality, data-handling, and delivery terms are set out in the engagement letter. CounselRisk is operated by QbitBrains LLC.
Sample: fictitious firm, invented people and matters.
Download PDFSample: fictitious firm, invented people and matters.
Download PDFSamples. Fictitious firm, invented people and matters. Illustrative of the instruments produced in the Sprint. Not legal advice.
Review your firm's position in a 20-minute call with me. I'll run the ten-question AI Governance Readiness Assessment with you live. You leave with your score and your primary gap either way.
Book a 20-minute review callAvailability shown in US Eastern Time.
A short assessment built for law firms evaluating policy, oversight, and responsible internal AI adoption.
Pricing
A 30-day Sprint where I install it with your firm, or the complete framework your team implements internally. Both are structured around the ABA Model Rules and Formal Opinion 512.
30 days. I install the governance system your firm operates after I leave.
The balance is due at handover, after you have seen the system.
20 minutes. I'll run the AI Governance Readiness Assessment with you and show you where your governance gaps are, whether or not you engage us.
The same framework the Sprint installs, delivered for your team to adapt and roll out.
14-day evaluation guarantee · 12 months of framework updates included
Not ready to purchase? Request Before the Prompt, the free seven-step AI use decision guide, to start evaluating AI use more clearly.
Common Questions
The framework includes 16 core policy sections and 12 operational appendices, structured around the ABA Model Rules and Formal Opinion 512, built for real law-firm governance needs. It covers permitted and prohibited uses, risk classification, confidentiality, verification, client disclosure, fee treatment, training, governance oversight, and incident response. It is delivered immediately in PDF and editable Word for internal review, customization, and adoption.
Yes. The framework is built specifically for U.S. law firms and reflects the professional-responsibility obligations, ethical rules, client expectations, and operational realities of legal practice. It is not a generic corporate AI policy repackaged for legal use.
Free resources can help firms understand the issues and begin internal discussion. CounselRisk is designed for firms that need a more complete governance starting point: structured policy language, operational appendices, decision tools, implementation instruments, and a framework that can be reviewed, completed, and circulated internally rather than drafted from scratch.
Yes. The framework is designed for internal review by managing partners, firm counsel, legal operations, risk leaders, and governance stakeholders. It is structured for evaluation, customization, and circulation as a working internal framework – not just private reading.
Yes. The Implementation Sprint installs the working governance system in 30 days and hands it to the firm to own. From $3,500, founding rate $2,250 in exchange for active participation and candid feedback, framework and 12 months of updates included. Operational consulting, not legal advice. Book a 20-minute review call.
Advisory Services
Some firms require implementation support that goes beyond the framework itself – particularly where multi-jurisdictional compliance, internal governance structures, training rollout, or broader operating-model changes are involved. For those firms, CounselRisk offers implementation-oriented advisory support.
These engagements are designed for firms that want a more tailored starting point than the standard framework alone. Scope is defined individually based on the firm’s governance priorities, operating environment, and internal decision-making structure.
Insights
CounselRisk publishes practical insights on the governance issues emerging as law firms adopt AI tools for research, drafting, internal workflows, and client-facing work. Topics include ABA and state bar guidance, confidentiality risks, verification obligations, client disclosure, and implementation questions for midsize firms.
These insights are written to help managing partners, legal operations leaders, and governance stakeholders evaluate AI use more clearly and build more defensible internal governance.
Published periodically. Designed for managing partners, legal operations leaders, and governance stakeholders.
Recent Insights
A working governance system, installed in 30 days, or the complete framework for firms implementing internally. Structured around the ABA Model Rules and Formal Opinion 512.
Book a 20-minute review call Get the Framework, $297