AI is everywhere—except in the SQE

24 April 2026 / Author(s): Dr Alan Ma

Issue: 8158 / Categories: Career Clinic

Artificial intelligence is now part of everyday practice of law. Should it also be recognised in how lawyers qualify? Dr Alan Ma on the importance of digital judgement

Contends that digital judgement is now a foundational legal skill and therefore AI-related competencies should be included in the SQE.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer experimental in legal practice. It is operational.

Junior solicitors are drafting advice with AI assistance, summarising disclosure bundles through automation, and relying on predictive research tools embedded within everyday workflow systems. In many firms, digital intermediaries now sit between lawyer and output.

Yet while AI has become ordinary in practice, it remains formally absent from the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). This is not an argument that the SQE is flawed, nor a call for technological fashion in assessment. It is a more focused question: if newly qualified solicitors are expected to exercise professional judgement within AI-mediated environments from day one, should qualification assessment more explicitly reflect that reality?

AI as part of ordinary professional context

The

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AI is everywhere—except in the SQE

Categories: Career Clinic

Artificial intelligence is now part of everyday practice of law. Should it also be recognised in how lawyers qualify? Dr Alan Ma on the importance of digital judgement