Checklist · AI decision systems

England and Wales: firm controls checklist for AI, built on the SRA warning notice on misuse of AI (17 August 2026)

Firm controls checklist built on the SRA's 17 August 2026 warning notice on misuse of AI: citation checks before anything goes to court, supervision of juniors, and client confidentiality in AI tools.

MaintainedWe keep this page up to date.Law stated as at 7 November 2026

Kind: Checklist Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
Version: 1
Where it applies: United Kingdom (England and Wales)
AI use: Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
Source: Written for this library
Status: Maintained. Checked on 7 November 2026 against the 3 authorities it cites, for United Kingdom (England and Wales).

When to use it

Use when an SRA-regulated firm adopts or reviews its AI controls, after an AI-related near miss, or when the COLP reports on compliance. It maps each control to the Code of Conduct for Firms and the Code for Solicitors paragraphs the warning notice cites.

How to use this precedent

Check that it fits the matter: read “When to use it” and the places it applies to.
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Adapt it to the matter, filling in each placeholder shown in [square brackets].
Use AI only as far as the Yellow level allows. “How AI may be used” says what AI may and must not do.
Before it goes out, a lawyer checks it against current law and each point under “The lawyer checks”.

How AI may be used

A tool may map the firm's existing controls to the checklist and list gaps. The COLP and a manager decide whether each control is adequate.

AI may

Match the firm's policies and records to each control
Draft a gap list for the COLP

AI must not

Must not mark a control as effective
Must not decide whether a matter is reportable to the SRA

The lawyer checks

Each control exists in practice, not only on paper
Supervisors of junior and unregulated staff check AI-assisted court documents
Client data goes only into AI tools with contractual, technical and organisational safeguards

Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.

Authorities

Read the full text

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read the whole precedent and its drafting notes;
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add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.

The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.

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