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26 September 2025 / Clare Arthurs
Issue: 8132 / Categories: Features , Artificial intelligence , Profession , Technology , Legal services
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Do the AIs have it?

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A golden opportunity or more trouble than it’s worth? Clare Arthurs reckons with the rise of artificial intelligence

There is no escaping the rise of the machine—in particular, the rise of machine learning. Its impact and use is being discussed and developed by lawyers, their clients and even the judiciary. Artificial intelligence (AI) is clearly here to stay—but does it represent an opportunity or a challenge?

AI champions

The litigation landscape is varied in this respect. Senior members of the judiciary have consistently championed the integration of AI into our court system. In a speech in February 2025, the Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos, repeated his commitment to the Digital Justice System, which he hopes will allow ‘millions of disputes to be resolved online, using AI where appropriate, without the need for those disputes to enter the more expensive and time-consuming court process’.

Lord Justice Birss, the newly appointed Chancellor of the High Court (and chair of the working group on the use of AI

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NEWS
Restrictions on workplace non-disclosure agreements could make settlements slower, more complex and more expensive when reforms expected in 2027 take effect
Private prosecutors face closer scrutiny under Crown Prosecution Service guidance designed to strengthen accountability and consistency when intervention is requested
Foreign states cannot necessarily claim immunity for cyber operations launched abroad against computers in Britain, following a divided Supreme Court ruling
Defendants who make unsupported complaints about their lawyers risk losing legal aid while confiscation proceedings continue without representation
Lawyers advising Russian clients face different sanctions restrictions across the UK, EU and US, despite their shared objective of increasing pressure on Russia
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