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17 April 2025
Issue: 8114 / Categories: Legal News , Technology , Artificial intelligence , Legal services , Profession
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Chatbot & AI guidance refresh for judges

Judges, clerks and support staff have been issued with updated guidance on artificial intelligence (AI)

This replaces guidance given in December 2023. It includes a warning that AI chatbots are now being used by unrepresented litigants, and may be the only source of assistance they receive.

‘If it appears an AI chatbot may have been used to prepare submissions or other documents, it is appropriate to inquire about this, ask what checks for accuracy have been undertaken (if any), and inform the litigant that they are responsible for what they put to the court/tribunal,’ the guidance states.

Indications of chatbot or AI usage include US spelling, unfamiliar citations of cases, content that is persuasive but has obvious substantive errors, and references to unfamiliar or overseas cases.

The guidance, issued this week by Baroness Carr, the Lady Chief Justice, and other senior judiciary, also adds new sections on misinformation, bias and dataset quality, expands the glossary of AI terms and introduces Microsoft Copilot Chat for judicial office holders through eJudiciary accounts. It reassures judges that, as long as they are logged into their eJudiciary accounts, data entered into Copilot remains secure and private.

View the guidance here.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

NLJ Career Profile: Daniel Burbeary, Michelman Robinson

Daniel Burbeary, office managing partner of Michelman Robinson, discusses launching in London, the power of the law, and what the kitchen can teach us about litigating

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Wedlake Bell—Rebecca Christie

Firm welcomes partner with specialist expertise in family and art law

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Birketts—Álvaro Aznar

Dual-qualified partner joins international private client team

NEWS
Cheating in driving tests is surging—and courts are responding firmly. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort Law School charts a rise in impersonation and tech-assisted fraud, with 2,844 attempts recorded in a year
As AI-generated ‘deepfake’ images proliferate, the law may already have the tools to respond. In NLJ this week, Jon Belcher of Excello Law argues that such images amount to personal data processing under UK GDPR
In a striking financial remedies ruling, the High Court cut a wife’s award by 40% for coercive and controlling behaviour. Writing in NLJ this week, Chris Bryden and Nicole Wallace of 4 King’s Bench Walk analyse LP v MP [2025] EWFC 473
A €60.9m award to Kylian Mbappé has refocused attention on football’s controversial ‘ethics bonus’ clauses. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Estelle Ivanova of Valloni Attorneys at Law examines how such provisions sit within French labour law

The Court of Appeal has slammed the brakes on claimants trying to swap defendants after limitation has expired. In Adcamp LLP v Office Properties and BDB Pitmans v Lee [2026] EWCA Civ 50, it overturned High Court rulings that had allowed substitutions under s 35(6)(b) of the Limitation Act 1980, reports Sarah Crowther of DAC Beachcroft in this week's NLJ

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