Is AI legal advice as good as a solicitor?

On 6 May 2025, the Solicitors Regulation Authority authorised the first law firm that uses purely AI to provide legal services. Paul Philip, SRA Chief Executive explained the reason behind this approval, saying: “with so many people and small businesses struggling to access legal services, we cannot afford to pull up the drawbridge on innovations that could have big public benefit. Responsible use of AI by law firms could improve legal services, while making them easier to access and more affordable”.

The purely AI based firm, known Garfield Ltd, is helping small and medium businesses in small claims court proceedings. 

How much is AI legal advice regulated?

The UK government, while claiming to be a global hub for AI development, has been fairly lax in regulating the use of AI, and in particular, the use of AI to give legal advice. In 2023, a white paper was presented to Parliament encouraging an innovative approach to AI that would allow for its mass expansion. However, the King’s Speech in 2024 acknowledged safety concerns about the widespread use of AI in professional and other sectors. 

The Competition Markets Authority, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Information Commissioner's Office have their own strategies for dealing with AI, using a principle-focused approach rather than a statutory one. They encourage fairness, raising concerns about potential discrimination that AI may develop, privacy issues, as the connection to many different systems could leak private information into the public domain, and human rights as the issue of ‘deepfake content’ can cause serious and long lasting harm to individuals. 

The use of AI in law firms

AI has had a significant impact within the legal industry in the last decade, as the ability to harness new technology to help solicitors create legal documents such as contracts and agreements, offer 24/7 support to clients, and identify risks, have all been beneficial to firms and clients alike.  

However, there are major pitfalls in allowing AI to have a major role in a solicitor’s work:

• no personal relationships between solicitor and client can develop;
• there are clear confidentiality concerns about clients' personal information being hacked or leaked;
• there have been widely reported cases where AI platforms have simply invented legal cases that parties have tried to rely on in court, leading to serious costs consequences;
• unless a user of AI asks exactly the right question, they may well miss intricacies and nuances of law which an experienced solicitor would be able to advise about;
• If an AI platform gives wrong legal advice, there is nobody to sue - this is in contrast to what happens if a solicitor provides you with negligent advice, as you would be able to bring a claim against them to compensate you for your losses; and
• an AI platform would not necessarily be able to understand what other legal claims or services might actually be better pursued by the client, whereas this is an integral part of a solicitor's work. 

If AI is to be continually incorporated into a solicitor’s daily tasks then it should be limited and controllable to promote confidentiality and help with more repetitive tasks. An AI platform cannot replace a lawyer, who owes their client a duty of care to provide accurate advice and a duty of confidentiality.

If you need help with a case and you want to speak to a real lawyer, contact us today to find out how we can help. 

Article Credit: Daniel Huggard