The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) published a Warning Notice on 17 August 2026 directed at solicitors and law firms regulated under the SRA Standards and Regulations in England and Wales. The notice is a regulatory guidance instrument signalling enforcement priorities. It does not amend the Code of Conduct but identifies conduct already prohibited under existing obligations.
The Warning Notice invokes solicitors' duties under SRA Principles 2 and 7 (acting with integrity and in clients' best interests) and Code of Conduct obligations on competence, candour to the court, and confidentiality. The SRA cited two decided cases: in R (on the application of Ayinde) v Haringey LBC [2025] EWHC 1383 (Admin), AI-generated case citations that did not exist were filed with the Administrative Court. In Secretary of State for the Home Department v UK [2026] UKUT 81 (IAC), the Upper Tribunal found that uploading client documents and Home Office letters to an open-source AI tool such as ChatGPT likely constituted a breach of client confidentiality obligations.
Solicitors must verify every AI-generated citation before filing any document with a court or tribunal; personal responsibility for accuracy cannot be delegated to an AI tool. Law firms and in-house legal teams that allow staff to feed client-sensitive information into open-source AI tools without data processing agreements and confidentiality controls risk disciplinary referral to the SRA and notification obligations under UK GDPR Article 33 in the event of a personal data breach.
The SRA received 42 reports of potential AI misuse in the twelve months to July 2026 and confirmed multiple ongoing investigations. No amendments to the Code of Conduct to create AI-specific conduct rules have been proposed. Supervision of staff who use AI tools in client-facing work remains a firm-level obligation under the SRA's employer requirements. The SRA stated it would take regulatory action where breaches of existing duties are established.
Licentium advises law firms, in-house legal departments, and legal technology businesses on AI governance in regulated legal practice, including data processing compliance and supervision procedures for AI-assisted workflows. We may draw on our partner network for SRA and UK GDPR specialist counsel. Work we undertake includes AI policy drafting for legal teams, data protection impact assessments for AI tools, professional conduct advisory, and legal technology regulatory analysis.
Source: Solicitors Regulation Authority, Misuse of AI Warning Notice, 17 August 2026