Discussion paper on the adoption of AI technology in legal services

The Context and Purpose of the Discussion Paper

AI, specifically Machine Learning (ML), is transforming how law firms and departments operate and businesses and people interact with legal services. From legal diligence and regulatory compliance to the advent of next-generation chatbots, machine learning brings many opportunities to improve outcomes for businesses and society.

From regulatory compliance and legal diligence, to the advent of next generation chatbots, AI is transforming the way legal businesses operate and is offering huge opportunities to improve outcomes for business and society.

We need to make the most of the opportunities AI presents for positive change in the legal sector, by sharing best practices with each other. Legal businesses, regulators and governments must understand the benefits, risks and barriers to responsible adoption.

This is why LawtechUK, together with the Regulatory Response Unit, has released a discussion paper, and we need your feedback on questions raised.

Your feedback

Responsible adoption of AI in legal services is a highly collaborative endeavour. To further improve the understanding of the use cases, benefits, risks and best practices of responsible AI adoption and development in legal services, we seek your input on the following questions:

The responsible adoption of AI in legal services is a highly collaborative endeavour. Therefore, we invite you – law firms, ALSPs, lawtech companies and in-house – to respond to the questions raised in this discussion paper. The questions focus on understanding the risks, risk management techniques, and the areas of legal services regulation that may require clarity to support the responsible use of ML:

1. How do you assess the risks associated with the ML systems you deploy? Please provide use cases where available.

2. What activities does your organisation undertake to assure itself that an ML system is appropriate and, where possible, prevent issues from arising?

3. How do requirements around PII impact the adoption or development of ML solutions by your organisation?

4. What techniques do you carry out to ensure professional confidentiality is maintained when data associated with client matters are used to build and train ML applications and systems?

5. Are there any other issues of concern relating to UK legal service regulation not covered by this discussion paper that are acting as a constraint on ML development and deployment?

Responses and use cases collected from the discussion paper are currently being consolidated. They will be published in March 2023.