{"slug": "lawyers-warned-they-carry-the-can-for-juniors-using-ai", "title": "Lawyers warned they carry the can for juniors using AI", "summary": "The Law Society of England and Wales issued new guidance on Wednesday stating that solicitors remain fully accountable for AI-assisted legal work, whether the AI is used by the solicitor or by anyone under their supervision, and cannot blame the technology or junior employees for errors. Law Society president Brett Dixon warned that \"over-reliance on AI systems may result in a catastrophic gap of future legal skills and knowledge,\" while the Solicitors Regulation Authority issued a similar warning in August that supervisors of junior colleagues may be found to have breached regulatory requirements if false citations reach the court without adequate review. The guidance follows a High Court judge's May rebuke of Pinsent Masons for misleading AI-assisted letters and the September striking off of immigration lawyer Abhisek Kumar, the first UK solicitor removed after using AI-generated evidence.", "body_md": "# Lawyers warned they carry the can for juniors using AI\n\nLawyers have been warned they remain accountable for supervising AI use within their law firm, particularly when junior employees are operating the technology.\n\nThe Law Society, an independent body that represents solicitors in England and Wales, issued [new guidance](https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/ai-and-lawtech/using-artificial-intelligence-in-legal-practice) on Wednesday setting out the appropriate use of AI in legal work, meaning lawyers cannot blame the technology – or junior employees – for any mistakes it makes.\n\nThe guidance states that lawyers’ “professional duties and obligations apply in the same way whether AI or other technologies were used” by the solicitor themselves “or by anyone under that solicitor’s supervision to assist with that work.”\n\nVice-Chair of the City of London Law Society’s AI Committee Kerry Westland, told ***City AM*** that while AI “has significant potential to support lawyers at every level” it “does not displace firms’ existing duties of competence, supervision and accountability.” \n\n“Firms will need to ensure that junior lawyers are trained to use AI critically and safely, while continuing to develop the legal judgement and practical skills that come from properly supervised experience. The Committee will consider the guidance as part of its ongoing work on the impact of AI across CLLS member firms,” Westland said.\n\nThe Law Society added that AI is “no substitute for junior lawyers” and those which are responsible for junior colleagues must make sure the tech does not “replace opportunities”, including how to “identify errors, omissions and unsupported propositions.”\n\n“Solicitors and law firms should choose their AI tools carefully and always check that legal work meets their professional standards. Over-reliance on AI systems may result in a catastrophic gap of future legal skills and knowledge,” Brett Dixon, president of the Law Society, said.\n\nThe legal watchdog, [the Solicitors Regulation Authority](https://www.cityam.com/regulator-under-pressure-as-solicitor-misconduct-reports-soar-nearly-30-per-cent/) (SRA), issued a similar warning in August noting that lawyers who supervise junior colleagues “may also be found to have breached regulatory requirements and professional duties if false citations are put before the court without adequate review and/or supervision.” \n\n## Legal sectors’ AI use under the microscope\n\nThis comes as lawyers and law firms across London and the rest of the UK are being closely watched by the courts and legal regulators and reprimanded for any mistakes made in AI-assisted legal work.\n\nTop City firm Pinsent Masons was [slammed by a High Court judge](https://www.cityam.com/top-city-law-firm-slammed-for-misleading-ai-letters-sent-to-court/) in May for sending misleading letters to the court containing false legal information. The firm admitted that an AI tool had been used by the junior solicitor to research the legal issue, and to later draft the second letter.\n\nIn September, an immigration lawyer, Abhisek Kumar, who was referred to a Tribunal after a criminal conviction became the first solicitor in the UK to be [struck off after using AI-generated evidence](https://www.cityam.com/lawyer-struck-off-for-using-fake-ai-evidence-in-his-own-disciplinary-case/) as part of his own defence.\n\nThe Upper Tribunal [issued a warning earlier this year]() in an immigration case on the serious risks of using AI in court documents, including in legal professional privilege. \n\nThe lawyers had either used AI themselves or instructed their junior staff to use it to draft an immigration judicial review application which contained inaccurate citations of case law.\n\nThe Tribunal reminded lawyers that “a supervisor who fails to ensure that the work of a more junior fee-earner does not contain false cases or citations is likely to be more culpable than a lawyer who fails to ensure that his own work is free from such ‘hallucinations’.”", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/lawyers-warned-they-carry-the-can-for-juniors-using-ai", "canonical_source": "https://www.cityam.com/lawyers-warned-they-carry-the-can-for-juniors-using-ai/", "published_at": "2026-10-22 11:42:33+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-10-22 20:13:51.950576+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["ai-policy", "ai-ethics", "artificial-intelligence"], "entities": ["Law Society", "Solicitors Regulation Authority", "Kerry Westland", "City of London Law Society", "Brett Dixon", "Pinsent Masons", "Abhisek Kumar", "Upper Tribunal"], "also_reported_by": [], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/lawyers-warned-they-carry-the-can-for-juniors-using-ai", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/lawyers-warned-they-carry-the-can-for-juniors-using-ai.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/lawyers-warned-they-carry-the-can-for-juniors-using-ai.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/lawyers-warned-they-carry-the-can-for-juniors-using-ai.jsonld"}}