An approved AI policy is not the same as safe AI practice.
We help medium sized and large UK law firms make sure AI is used the way their policy intends, so that its use can be supervised, evidenced and explained if a client, broker, regulator or court asks.
Where the exposure sits
Many firms have approved an enterprise AI tool and written a policy for using it. The harder part is making sure the two match day to day. Where they do not, three consequences may follow.
Client confidentiality
If a fee earner enters privileged material into an unapproved tool, the immediate concern is client confidentiality rather than technology alone. A breach is no less serious because a policy prohibited the relevant conduct.
Regulatory scrutiny
Firms must be able to demonstrate appropriate supervision of how work is produced, including work supported by AI. A firm may need to show that its controls operated in practice, not only that a policy was in place.
Professional indemnity
Professional indemnity insurers are beginning to take an interest in how firms govern AI use. Firms that can provide evidence of governance in practice may be better placed at renewal than those relying on a policy document alone.
Five questions your firm should be able to answer
- Which AI tools are approved for use with client data, and how is that enforced?
- How do you know that unapproved tools are not being used for client work?
- Who reviews AI assisted output before it leaves the firm, and is that review recorded?
- How are fee earners trained, and how often is that training refreshed?
- If something went wrong, could you reconstruct what was done, by whom and with what data?
If any of these answers currently relies on the policy alone, that is the place to begin.
From Policy to Practice
We help law firms make sure AI is used the way their policy intends. The work typically takes about six weeks, in three fixed fee phases.
Policy to practice review
Weeks 1 to 2
An anonymous, no blame picture of how the approved tool is really used, and a short report showing where practice departs from policy, with priorities agreed.
Strengthen policy and controls
Weeks 3 to 4
An AI policy rewritten as practical rules, a one page staff guide, an approved use list, a controls checklist for IT, and a briefing pack for your broker.
Training and assurance
Weeks 5 to 6
Role based training on the firm's own tool, a briefing for partners on their leadership responsibilities, and a light touch assurance plan the COLP can run.
You can commission all three phases or start with Phase 1. Each has a fixed fee, confirmed after an initial conversation.
What your firm gets
- A clear, honest picture of how AI is used across the firm.
- Practical rules and tool settings that make the safe way of working the easiest one.
- Staff who understand what they can and cannot do, and feel able to ask.
- A record of the steps taken, which partners can draw on if a client, broker, regulator or court asks.
Once the foundations are in place, the same tool can help the firm respond to enquiries faster, keep clients better informed and reduce time spent on routine work.
EIS works alongside your COLP, IT provider and broker, and does not provide legal or insurance advice.
The nature of the work
This is not simply a technology deployment, nor another policy drafting exercise. Many firms already have the necessary elements in place. The work is ensuring that policy, controls and day to day practice are aligned.
For conveyancing practices
Firms with significant conveyancing volume may also be incurring avoidable HM Land Registry requisitions. We offer a separate, focused service to address this.
A confidential first conversation
Your initial conversation will be with Damian Neilson, who will give you a clear view of where your firm stands and whether EIS can help.