TO BE PUBLISHED July 2025
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Format: DOWNLOADABLE PDF
This conference will assess the evolving use of artificial intelligence in the legal sector - focusing on regulatory priorities, ethical and practical considerations, and implications for legal service delivery, professional practice, and public interest outcomes.
It will bring key stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss the Government’s ongoing framework for AI, including the approach set out in A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation and the recently published AI Opportunities Action Plan. Delegates will assess priorities for enabling innovation in legal practice while addressing concerns around transparency, and accountability. They will examine the landscape of AI-related guidance from the Legal Services Board, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and the Information Commissioner’s Office.
Discussion is expected on immediate issues facing law firms and regulators, including data protection, cyber-resilience, and professional responsibility in the context of deploying generative AI tools. Sessions will assess options for mitigating risks such as bias, inaccuracy, and intellectual property infringement, alongside best practice in how new systems are used to support tasks of varying complexity such as legal research, document handling, and case preparation.
Attendees will consider the role of AI in alternative dispute resolution, particularly its use in document review, case management and predictive analysis. Issues for smaller practices and in-house teams will also be discussed, including options and support that might be needed in adopting AI responsibly, and in putting in place the infrastructure and training required to enable effective and ethical use across the profession.
The agenda will also look at wider strategic issues, including development of best practice standards, how the Government’s approach to sector-specific regulation applies to the legal profession, and significant issues for the future, including putting in place robust safeguards relating to the potential impact of AI-powered processes on access to justice, client care, and competition in legal markets.
Further sessions will examine international developments in AI governance and legal technology together with implications for the UK, regulatory alignment, and cross-border practice, including recent guidance from global arbitration institutions. As AI rapidly evolves, further areas for discussion include the future direction of regulatory guidance, how domestic frameworks might evolve to keep pace with technological change, ensuring consistency across professional bodies, and supporting innovation without compromising ethical or legal standards.
With the agenda currently in the drafting stage, overall areas for discussion include:
- policy:
- examining A pro-innovation approach to AI regulation and the AI Opportunities Action Plan
- aligning sector-specific regulation with wider AI principles - strategic options for enabling flexibility alongside clear accountability
- regulation:
- guidance from the Legal Services Board, SRA, Bar Standards Board and ICO - addressing questions around regulatory fragmentation and consistency
- strategic options and learning from best practice for enabling future guidance to adapt to rapid AI developments
- systemic safeguards:
- transparency, risk and legal accountability - accuracy, bias and transparency in legal AI systems
- considerations for liability where AI informs professional judgement - ensuring responsible delegation and human oversight in complex matters
- data governance and cyber-resilience:
- addressing privacy and data use responsibilities, and cyber threats, in AI-assisted legal work - latest trends and thinking on the response to rising cyber-attacks affecting firms of all sizes
- practical steps for secure implementation of legal tech - access to advice on trends, specific issues and best practice
- professional ethics and client care:
- implications of AI use and the questions it raises - possible implications for duties to clients, outcomes and public interest
- maintaining ethical standards in AI-enabled legal services - identifying risks to confidentiality and fairness
- implementation:
- considerations for adoption of AI for a diverse legal sector comprising a range of practice areas and organisational scales
- addressing infrastructure, cost and capability gaps, particularly for small firms and in-house teams
- effective training and guidance for practitioners - supporting legal firms and institutions to respond to continued change
- innovation and market impact:
- examining how use of proprietary AI tools by firms may affect competition
- options for safeguarding open and fair legal service delivery - implications for legal market structure and access
- use-case best practice:
- assessing approaches to responsible AI use in legal research, drafting, document review and arbitration - what can be learned from leading firms and tech developers
- understanding current limitations, alongside potential benefits in workflow integration
- international approaches and regulatory alignment:
- assessing emerging guidance from international bodies and arbitration institutions
- implications of divergence in global AI rules and standards - considerations for UK legal services and cross-border practice
