Artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and other online chatbots can be useful. However, you should take particular care before entering, copying or uploading any information relating to your legal matter.
Our key advice
Do not enter or upload our legal advice, correspondence, documents or details of your matter into a publicly available AI tool.
This may result in you losing “privilege” in the documentation and could mean you are forced to disclose the documentation to your opposing party.
This includes:
- Emails and letters from us;
- Contracts, court papers and witness statements;
- Advice notes and attendance notes;
- Documents received from another party;
- Names, addresses, financial information or other personal details; and
- Summaries of confidential discussions with us.
Even removing names may not be enough if the remaining information could identify you, another person or the matter.
Why is this important?
1. You may lose confidentiality and legal professional privilege
Communications between you and your solicitor may be protected by legal professional privilege. This protection can prevent confidential legal advice and documents from having to be disclosed to another party or to the court.
Entering that material into a public AI tool may amount to sharing it with a third party. Depending on the tool, its settings and its terms of use, the information may be stored, reviewed, reused or otherwise processed by the provider.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority warns that putting client documents into an open or unsuitable AI tool is likely to breach confidentiality and may permanently waive legal professional privilege. This could mean that the protection cannot later be restored.
That loss of protection can have all sorts of unintended consequences, including the potential of a party being forced to disclose confidential communications (for example, legal advice) to their opponent because “privilege” has been lost.
2. You may lose control of your information
Information entered into a chatbot may be accessible to or used by the organisation providing it. The Information Commissioner’s Office advises users to remember that confidential information entered into chatbots may be accessed and used by the tool’s developer.
Free and paid tools can both present risks. A paid subscription, privacy setting or statement that information will not be used for training does not necessarily provide all the protections required for confidential legal material.
3. AI answers may be wrong
AI tools can produce information that sounds convincing but is inaccurate, incomplete or entirely invented. This is sometimes called an AI “hallucination”.
The Law Society of England and Wales warns that generative AI cannot check or understand its answers in the same way as a person and may produce false material.
An AI tool also does not know all the facts of your case and cannot replace advice from a solicitor who understands your circumstances.
What should you do instead?
If you:
- Do not understand our advice;
- Would like something explained in simpler language;
- Want a second explanation of an issue;
- Believe information may be missing;
- Have found something online that appears to conflict with our advice; or
- Want to understand the possible options, costs or risks,
Please speak to the solicitor dealing with your matter.
We will be happy to explain our advice, answer your questions and discuss any concerns.
If you have already used an AI tool
Please tell us promptly if you have already entered or uploaded any information about your matter into a public AI tool. This does not necessarily mean that privilege or confidentiality has been lost, but we may need to consider:
- What information was shared;
- Which tool and account were used;
- The tool’s privacy and data-retention settings;
- Whether the information can be deleted;
- Whether anyone else may have gained access; and
- Whether any protective or reporting steps are required.
Please do not delete your chat history or account before speaking to us, as we may need an accurate record of what was shared.
A simple rule
Treat anything entered into a public AI tool as information that may no longer remain private. If it concerns your legal matter, ask us before uploading or sharing it.