AI for UK Solicitors
Use generative AI on real matters without compromising privilege, confidentiality or your SRA obligations — taught by a solicitor who led legal technology for a national firm.
Taught and assessed by
Daniel MercerProfile pending contract
- Live teaching
- 16h
- Self-study
- 24h
- Duration
- 8 weeks
- Weekly load
- ~5h
What you will be able to do
- Assess whether a given AI tool may lawfully touch material subject to privilege
- Build a matter-level risk assessment your COLP will accept
- Redesign one drafting or review workflow with supervision controls that hold
- Verify AI-produced citations against primary sources as a matter of routine
- Draft a firm AI policy that maps to the SRA Standards and Regulations
- Explain your firm's data handling accurately to a client who asks
Who this is for
- Solicitors in private practice, from sole practitioners to partners
- COLPs and COFAs responsible for firm-level risk
- In-house counsel setting policy for a legal team
Who this is not for
- Non-lawyers seeking legal training — this assumes you are qualified
- Anyone wanting a tool recommendation list rather than a method for evaluating tools
What you need before you start
- Qualified solicitor, barrister, or equivalent legal role
- A real workflow you can assess during the programme
What you will actually learn
8 modules · 8 weeks · 16h live
How these systems failA working model of generative AI focused specifically on the failure modes that create professional risk.
Covered in this module
- Why models fabricate citations
- Confidence without knowledge
- Context limits and long documents
- Where legal-specific tools genuinely differ
Privilege and confidentialityThe analysis that determines whether a tool may see privileged material at all.
Covered in this module
- Legal professional privilege and third-party disclosure
- Reading vendor data processing terms properly
- Sub-processors and where data actually goes
- Recording the assessment you made
The SRA framework in practiceMapping AI use to existing obligations on competence, supervision and client care.
Covered in this module
- Competence and delegation
- Supervision proportionate to risk
- Client communication and engagement letters
- What must never be delegated
Document review and disclosureWhere AI-assisted review is defensible, and the controls that make it so.
Covered in this module
- Technology assisted review and its precedents
- Sampling and recall rates
- Defending your methodology
- When to decline the automation
Drafting with supervisionUsing AI in first-draft work with review checkpoints that actually get performed.
Covered in this module
- Precedent-anchored drafting
- House style and clause banks
- Review gates that survive time pressure
- Version control and audit trail
Research and the citation trapVerifying legal research output against primary sources, and the professional consequences of failing to.
Covered in this module
- Reported cases of fabricated authorities
- Verification workflow
- Building a checked internal knowledge base
- Duties to the court
Writing the firm policyA short, specific AI policy and the training that makes people follow it.
Covered in this module
- Permitted and prohibited uses
- Tool approval routes
- Incident reporting
- Review cadence
Assessment clinicLive critique of each learner's risk assessment and workflow proposal.
Covered in this module
- Presenting your assessment
- Stress-testing controls
- Common gaps
- Getting sign-off internally
Dates and timetable
AI for UK Solicitors runs as a live cohort over 8 weeks. Pick the start date that fits — every cohort gets the same tutor, curriculum and assessment.
| Starts | Live sessions | Cap | Status and action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ends | Tuesdays 17:30–19:30 UK, 8 weeks | 20 | Choose this date → |
| Ends | Tuesdays 17:30–19:30 UK, 8 weeks | 20 | Choose this date → |
How you are assessed
A written risk assessment and workflow proposal for your own firm, covering confidentiality, privilege, supervision and verification. Marked by Daniel Mercer against a published rubric that maps each criterion to the relevant professional obligation. Individual written feedback within ten working days, with one free resubmission.
Our accreditation applications are in progress. We do not display an accreditation mark before it is granted — see the current status.
After you pass
- Template firm AI policy and client-facing data handling notice
- Quarterly tooling and case law reviews for members
Can UK solicitors use AI tools on privileged material?
Only where the firm has established that the tool does not constitute disclosure to a third party in a way that waives privilege, and has the contractual terms to support that position. This turns on the specific vendor arrangement, so it requires reading the terms rather than assuming them.
Privilege is the sharpest issue in legal AI adoption because the consequence of getting it wrong is not a fine but the loss of a client's protection.
In practice this means enterprise arrangements with explicit confidentiality and no-training commitments, reviewed by someone who understands what the words mean. It also means revisiting the position when the vendor changes its terms.
What does the SRA require when using AI in legal practice?
The SRA has not prohibited AI use. Existing obligations continue to apply unchanged: competence in the work delivered, supervision proportionate to risk, confidentiality, and honest client communication. The practical requirement is that you can evidence how each obligation is met when a tool is involved.
Check the SRA's current guidance directly rather than relying on any summary, including this one — it is periodically updated.
The framing we teach is that AI does not create new duties; it creates new ways to breach existing ones. That reframing is what makes the compliance work tractable.
Sources
- SRA Standards and Regulations — Solicitors Regulation Authority
How serious is the risk of AI fabricating case citations?
Serious enough that courts in several jurisdictions have sanctioned lawyers for filing non-existent authorities. Models produce plausible case names, citations and holdings with complete fluency. The only reliable control is verifying every authority against a primary source before it leaves the firm.
How does this differ from a general AI course?
A general course teaches prompting technique. This programme starts from privilege, confidentiality and the SRA framework, and is taught by a qualified solicitor who led legal technology for a national firm. You finish with an assessed risk assessment for your own firm, not a set of tips.
Common questions
Do I need to be technical?
No. The programme assumes legal qualification and no technical background whatsoever. Nothing in it requires coding.
Does this count towards continuing competence?
The programme provides a record of hours, learning outcomes and assessment which supports your continuing competence declaration. The SRA's regime is self-declared against your own development needs, so no provider can complete it for you.
Is Daniel currently practising?
No — Daniel is a non-practising solicitor and this is stated on his profile. He is not providing legal advice on the programme, and the programme is not a substitute for advice from your own COLP or regulator.
Can my firm enrol several people?
Yes, and we cap any single firm at four places per cohort so the discussion is not dominated by one practice's circumstances.
Related reading
AI for UK Accountants
An 8-week live programme for UK accountants on using AI without breaching confidentiality or professional standards, taught by a chartered accountant.
SubjectAI for Professionals
Live AI programmes built around UK professional obligations for accountants, solicitors and HR teams — taught by practitioners from those professions.
AnswerCan UK solicitors use ChatGPT with client data?
UK solicitors may use AI with client or privileged material only after checking the vendor contract and SRA confidentiality. Consumer defaults often fail.
CareerHow UK solicitors should add AI to their practice
AI is not a route into law. For UK solicitors the constraint is privilege and confidentiality, not prompting — consumer ChatGPT often fails.
AnswerPrivilege vs GDPR when lawyers use AI
GDPR can pass and privilege still fail. Pasting a privileged memo into consumer AI is a disclosure risk a privacy checklist misses.