As ministers push to ease rules to speed up the adoption of AI, the Law Society says lawyers simply need to know how the current law applies.
The Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) recently launched a call for evidence on a proposed ‘AI Growth Lab’. This cross-economy sandbox is designed to accelerate the deployment of autonomous technologies by giving companies “limited-time regulatory exemptions.” The government’s position is that many regulations were designed before autonomous software existed and are often outdated, assuming that decisions would be made by humans rather than machines.
Ministers believe that if the UK can move faster than its global competitors, it could secure a decisive economic advantage, potentially increasing the country’s output by £140bn by 2030. Their preliminary analysis specifically focuses on legal services as an area where removing “unnecessary legal barriers” could generate billions of dollars in value over the next decade.
However, the legal community, which is supposed to be the beneficiary of this deregulation, is not seeking exemption. In its formal response, the Law Society made clear that the existing framework is sufficiently robust. The friction lies not in the rules themselves, but in the lack of certainty surrounding them. Two-thirds of lawyers are already using AI tools, but confusion remains the main brake on deeper integration.
Ian Jeffrey, CEO of The Law Society, said: “AI innovation is essential to the legal sector and is already gaining significant momentum. The existing legal and regulatory framework supports progress. The main challenges do not come from regulatory burden, but rather from the uncertainty, costs, data and skills associated with AI implementation.”
Experts want a practical roadmap, not a regulatory overhaul. Businesses are now navigating gray areas when it comes to liability and data protection. Lawyers need definitive answers on whether client data needs to be anonymized before entering it into AI platforms, and they need standardized protocols for data security and storage.
When errors occur, the questions become even more difficult. If an AI tool generates harmful legal advice, it is currently unclear who is responsible (i.e., lawyers, companies, developers, insurance companies, etc.). There is also ambiguity regarding oversight requirements, specifically whether all instances of AI deployment must be supervised by human lawyers.
Such concerns are particularly acute in “reserved legal activities” such as legal representation, conveyancing, and probate, where practitioners need to know whether the use of automated assistance violates their professional obligations.
AI law needs to maintain safeguards
The government has sought to reassure the public that there will be “red lines” in the sandbox to protect fundamental rights and safety. However, the Law Society remains wary of any moves that could weaken consumer protection in the name of speed.
“Technological advances in the legal field should not expose clients and consumers to unregulated risks,” Jeffrey said. “The current regulations for the profession reflect the safeguards that Parliament has deemed essential to protect clients and the public. This ensures confidence in the English and Welsh legal system around the world.”
The agency intends to cooperate with the “legal services sandbox”, but only if it upholds professional standards rather than flouting them. A priority for the Law Society is to maintain the integrity of the justice system in the age of AI.
“The Law Society strongly supports innovation as long as it maintains professional integrity and operates within a strong regulatory environment,” Jeffrey explained. “Government needs to work with legal regulators and institutions to ensure compliance with professional standards in this area. Changes to legal regulations must include parliamentary oversight.”
See also: Inside China’s push to apply AI across its energy system
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