header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us

NLJ this week: AI in the dock—courts need literacy, not fear

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
17 October 2025
Issue: 8135 / Categories: Legal News , Artificial intelligence , Technology , Procedure & practice , Regulatory , Litigants in person , Legal services
printer mail-detail
232358
Generative AI isn’t the villain of the courtroom—it’s the misunderstanding of it that’s dangerous, argues Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University and the Birmingham Law Society in this week's NLJ

Analysing seven recent cases, including Ayinde, Al-Haroun and Harber, Ma warns that judges are beginning to discount submissions purely because they ‘look like’ they came from ChatGPT. Such suspicion, he says, risks procedural unfairness and chills innovation. While fabricated cases have rightly drawn sanctions, many litigants—especially those in person—are penalised for honest use.

Ma urges regulators and the judiciary to embrace AI literacy, not reflex scepticism, through verification protocols, training, and consistent guidance. His call: regulate and educate, don’t alienate. ‘AI is here to stay,’ he writes, ‘and the courts must learn to live with it.’

Issue: 8135 / Categories: Legal News , Artificial intelligence , Technology , Procedure & practice , Regulatory , Litigants in person , Legal services
printer mail-details
RELATED ARTICLES
 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Freeths—Suzanne Porter

Freeths—Suzanne Porter

Firm launches trusts, estates and tax practice in the north with senior hire

Fieldfisher—Guy Forster

Fieldfisher—Guy Forster

Personal injury and medical negligence team strengthened by partner hire

mfg Solicitors—Richard Port

mfg Solicitors—Richard Port

Firm appoints partner and head of family in Birmingham office

NEWS
Read All
AlphaBiolabs supports The Christie Charity with £500 Giving Back donation
AlphaBiolabs has donated £500 to The Christie Charity through its Giving Back initiative, helping to support cancer care, treatment and research across Greater Manchester, Cheshire and further afield
Cautious support for proposed reforms to homebuying process
CILEX has called for a review of conveyancing fees and stronger regulation of the high-volume residential property sector, in its response to government proposals for homebuying reforms
Time to stir the pension pot?
Pension provision should be considered during all divorce proceedings in order to repair gender inequality, the Pension Policy Institute (PPI) charity and workplace pensions provider now:pensions have said
Government moving 'too far too fast' on cryptoassets?
‘Over-regulating’ the cryptoassets sector could stifle growth when the government brings regulations into force in 2027, a digital assets lawyer has warned
Guideline hourly rates on the rise
Solicitors received a new year’s boost this month with the announcement of an uplift to the guideline hourly rates
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll