The Legal Services Board (LSB) and Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) will play key roles in the newly established AI Growth Lab, a government-led advisory sandbox intended to accelerate the development and deployment of AI products and services.
Legal services is the first sector to participate in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) initiative, which will see companies developing AI products and services able to perform supervised testing in real-world conditions before launching to market. The participating regulators, which also include the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Information Commissioner’s Office, will provide practical guidance on how existing rules apply.
Guidance will include understanding what, if any, regulatory changes may be needed to further support innovation and growth, and whether the use of the AI uncovers compliance issues with regulators’ rules. By working with regulators, the initiative aims to build a clearer picture of the form good regulatory oversight of AI should take in practice.
Participation does not constitute regulatory approval, endorsement or authorisation. Following testing, the LSB and the regulators it oversees will consider what regulatory changes, if any, may be needed to further support innovation and growth, while ensuring consumers remain protected.
Richard Orpin, chief executive of the Legal Services Board, said effective, targeted regulation plays a vital role in unlocking AI potential. He explained: “The AI Growth Lab is a pragmatic and timely initiative to accelerate the responsible adoption of AI in legal services.
“By bringing regulators and industry together, the Lab can provide further clarity and confidence that legal services providers and innovators need to innovate safely and quickly, driving growth in the sector.”
Examples of the projects currently taking part in the initiative include a conveyancing firm that has developed a concept for an AI tool that analyses sales packs provided by sellers of residential property to identify issues that require closer examination by the conveyancer.
The tool highlights potential problems or inconsistencies so the conveyancer can decide whether further information is needed, or whether the buyer needs to be advised immediately or at a later stage, or if an inconsistency within the information in the sales pack can be addressed easily.
The firm wishes to use the sandbox to test the tool and find ways to demonstrate why it has decided to highlight the issues that it has, and whether and how to provide assurance that other common issues not identified in a particular case do not arise in the data provided.
Another firm taking part is Garfield.Law Ltd, an SRA-regulated firm which delivers legal services primarily through AI. The company sought support to better develop its understanding of how its AI-driven model could work in practice in line with SRA rules.
The firm distilled core regulatory requirements through engagement with the regulator, building in controls that demonstrated compliance and managed risks. The regulator agreed monitoring arrangements to maintain a clear understanding of how the business model and AI tool were operating in practice.
Applications for AI innovators , including LawTech companies, legal services providers and conveyancing firms, will open later this summer.
Milton James, chair of the CLC’s Technology and Innovation Working Group, said: “I believe the Legal Sector AI Growth Lab has the potential to accelerate innovation and drive growth across the UK legal sector, and I am delighted that the CLC, as a forward-thinking, pro-innovation regulator, is helping to shape and deliver this important pilot.”
Sue Bence, COO of newly launched AI-enabled Farringdon, a CLC-regulated practice, said: “The AI Growth Lab is a genuinely important step for the UK legal sector. As an AI-native law firm, we know first-hand that the most exciting opportunities to improve client outcomes often sit at the edges of existing regulatory frameworks, and that what innovators need most is a route to test those ideas safely, with their regulator alongside them.
“The CLC has been exactly that kind of partner for us as we prepared to launch Farringdon: clear-eyed about consumer protection, but genuinely curious about what new technology can do for clients and the wider home buying and selling industry. Seeing the CLC partner with DSIT, the SRA, LSB and ICO on the AI Growth Lab is hugely encouraging, and we’d encourage other innovators in legal services to engage with it.”
LSB chief executive Richard Orpin concluded: “As oversight regulator, we are committed to fostering a pro-innovation regulatory environment. We will continue working with our partners to ensure the Lab enables effective approaches that help legal services work better for the public, including through lower costs, greater access to justice, improved user experience, and greater confidence in services, thereby supporting economic growth.
“Our research shows that consumers are open to the benefits of AI in legal services, but that trust depends on strong safeguards, transparency and accountability. The Lab provides a practical way to apply these insights in real settings to support and enable safe innovation.”
