header-logo header-logo

Home Login E-newsletter About us
24 April 2026
Issue: 8158 / Categories: Legal News , Training & education , Artificial intelligence , Technology , Career focus , Profession
printer mail-detail

NLJ this week: AI skills gap exposed in solicitor exams

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.
247603
© Getty images

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping day-to-day legal work, but are qualification rules lagging behind? In NLJ this week, Dr Alan Ma of Birmingham City University argues the SQE ignores a crucial modern skill: ‘digital judgement’ 

While AI is now ‘operational’ in legal practice, the exam remains technology-neutral, failing to test risks like ‘fabricated authority’ or misuse of client data. Core duties—competence, confidentiality, supervision and integrity—are increasingly shaped by AI tools, demanding scepticism and verification.

Without formal assessment, firms shoulder the burden of training, risking uneven standards.

Ma calls for reform to embed AI awareness so solicitors can interrogate outputs, not just produce them. 

Issue: 8158 / Categories: Legal News , Training & education , Artificial intelligence , Technology , Career focus , Profession
printer mail-details
RELATED ARTICLES
 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Read All
Sponsored by
Womble Bond Dickinson—Paula Myers

Womble Bond Dickinson—Paula Myers

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints Paula Myers to private capital team in Leeds

mfg Solicitors—five promotions

mfg Solicitors—five promotions

Law firm mfg Solicitors announces five promotions at Birmingham office

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners adds six to partnership in record year for partner promotions

NEWS
Read All
NLJ this week: Raising the age bar
Calls to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 have been renewed, with the Bar Council arguing the current threshold criminalises children too early and risks pushing them towards lifelong offending
NLJ this week: Beyond AI hallucinations
The legal profession's AI challenge extends far beyond fabricated case citations, according to a warning about the next phase of technological risk
NLJ this week: AML supervision shake-up
Law firms should use the transition period before the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) assumes anti-money laundering (AML) supervision to strengthen governance and compliance, experts have warned
NLJ this week: Options for global evidence gathering
Cross-border disputes increasingly demand creative approaches to gathering evidence, with litigators needing to look beyond traditional letters of request
NLJ this week: Indefinite or forever?
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified the distinction between contracts of 'indefinite' and 'perpetual' duration, with potentially significant implications for commercial drafting
Copyright © 2026 LexisNexis
back-to-top-scroll