Artificial intelligence is reshaping workplaces across Australia, and the legal profession is no exception.
As AI becomes more widely used in legal practice, questions are emerging about how it could affect client services and what rights clients have when AI is involved in their legal matters.
Solicitors and legal professionals from across the region will gather in Tamworth on Monday, July 13, for a professional development session on the rules, obligations and responsibilities surrounding the use of AI in legal practice.
The free event will be held at the University of New England’s Tamworth Study Centre and feature UNE Law School Professor Mark Perry and lecturer Fiona Burns.
Burns said the legal profession was already using generative AI but solicitors needed to understand the ethical and legal considerations associated with its use.
“AI will not abolish the legal profession, but it will substantially reshape how legal work is done, who does it, and how it is priced. It will automate significant parts of research, document review and drafting, and it will change client expectations around speed, responsiveness and transparency,” Burns said.
“AI is not going to replace lawyers, but it will change how we work and how legal services are delivered. It will take over a lot of the routine, time-consuming tasks.
“AI is already being used in the legal profession to streamline routine tasks but its risks need to be managed by human supervision.
“AI can reduce cost and delay in some matters by streamlining routine tasks, but it introduces new risks, such as errors, hallucinated authorities and privacy issues, which must be managed through human supervision,” she said.
The session forms part of the mandatory continuing professional development requirements legal practitioners must complete each year.
Professor Perry said AI education for legal professionals was “essential” to ensure they chose appropriate tools, set limits, verified outputs, and explained methods and provenance to clients and courts.
He said it was equally important for the public to understand how their information may be used when AI is involved in legal matters.
“Your lawyer remains responsible for all work: AI is a tool, not a decision-maker,” Perry said.
“Firms should check outputs before use and protect your information with clear controls on data residency, retention and vendor access, without allowing your data to train public models.
“Clients should ask whether AI will be used on their matter, for which tasks, how their data is protected, who reviews and signs off on outputs, whether usage will be disclosed and auditable, and whether they may opt out.”
Perry and Burns encouraged clients to discuss the use of AI with their legal representatives and ask questions, including:
- Whether and how AI is used in their matter, including for research, drafting, file management or client communication.
- How confidentiality and data security are protected when AI tools are involved, including where data is processed and stored and who has access.
- How the lawyer supervises and checks AI outputs, and how they ensure advice remains tailored and accurate rather than generic.
- Whether the use of AI will reduce fees by automating routine work, and how any efficiencies are passed on to the client.
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