The Law Society of England and Wales has announced its new AI strategy, which is based on three pillars: innovation, impact and integrity.
Central to the strategy is integrity, which aims to ensure that AI is being used responsibly and ethically to support the rule of law and access to justice. Led by the three pillars, the Law Society wants to “make sure the legal profession is and remains an authoritative voice on AI that not only impacts the profession, but also the UK economy”.
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The strategy comes after the Law Society responded to the UK government’s AI regulation white paper and published an essentials guide to generative AI.
As AI continues to develop at a rapid pace, with new possibilities and challenges ahead, Law Society President Richard Atkinson explains that the goal is to support members to “navigate and benefit from the new AI landscape”.
Speaking on the three pillars, Atkinson added: “Within these three overlapping themes, we recognise that different solicitors and firms of all sizes have wide-ranging interests, experiences and expectations around AI and other existing digital tools and emerging technologies. The Law Society is committed to supporting all solicitors and the whole legal sector to provide first-rate services to their clients.
“We will continue to influence, lead and shape regulatory and policy positions on AI for the legal sector and widen our resources to help firms identify and address the risks of AI to best serve public interest.”
The professional body for solicitors also outlined its plans for the coming months, explaining that it wants to:
- continue to influence, lead and shape regulatory and policy positions on AI for the legal sector;
- widen its resource offering to identify and address the risk, challenges and ethics that come with the use of AI; and
- publish reports about AI’s impact on its section members and area of law.
Read the full report at https://www.lawcareers.net/Explore/News/Law-Society-announces-new-AI-strategy-18102024
The Strategy
https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/ai-and-lawtech/artificial-intelligence-ai-strategy
Artificial intelligence (AI) strategy
The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has introduced new possibilities and challenges for the legal sector, spanning:
- technology adoption
- legal practice and training
- regulation and professional conduct
- the role of the lawyer
- access to justice
Our view
As the professional body for solicitors, we’re here to support our members in navigating the AI landscape.
This builds on our long-established work on data and technology, and recognises our unique role as:
- a convenor at the highest level on legal issues
- the representative voice of the profession
- a trusted guide through change and uncertainty
- a key source of ethical leadership to the profession
To guide our AI work, we’ve worked with members to establish three long-term outcomes to work towards:
- innovation: AI is used across the legal sector in ways that benefit both firms and clients in legal service delivery
- impact: there is an effective AI regulatory landscape that has been informed and influenced by the legal sector
- integrity: the responsible and ethical use of AI has been used to support the rule of law and access to justice
Within these three overlapping themes, we recognise that different solicitors, firms and organisations of all sizes have wide-ranging interests, experiences and expectations around AI and other emerging technologies.
The key question when it comes to our work around AI is: how does the Law Society fit into this changing landscape and make the most impact?
What we’re doing
Led by innovation, impact and integrity, we aim to make sure the legal profession is and remains an authoritative voice on AI that not only impacts the profession but also the UK economy.
Our recent activity includes:
- responded to the UK government’s AI regulation white paper
- published a guide to generative AI: the essentials
- engaged with a wide range of members and stakeholders, including our committees, large firms, small and medium-sized enterprises, in-house, civil society and the public
- developed online resources, events and webinars on AI, lawtech and digital technologies
In the next few months, we plan to:
- continue to influence, lead and shape regulatory and policy positions on AI for the legal sector
- widen our resource offering to identify and address the risk, challenges and ethics of AI
- publish research on the impacts of AI specific to our Section members and areas of law
