The AI Growth Lab is a ‘safe sandbox’ where legal services innovators can develop and test AI-based systems. According to the government’s announcement, it is designed to accelerate the development and deployment of AI products and services by helping innovators navigate existing regulatory frameworks with greater confidence. The SRA and the Legal Services Board were among the first regulators to join and the government confirmed that the Council for Licensed Conveyancers and the Information Commissioner’s Office are also participating. The SRA has confirmed that participation in the Lab will not constitute regulatory approval, endorsement, or authorisation, and that legal and regulatory requirements will remain the same.
What Did The Lord Chancellor Say?
Speaking at London Tech Week, Lord Chancellor (as he was at the time of writing) David Lammy emphasised that AI would be about augmentation and “not about AI making the judgment”. He stated:
“You cannot replace the judiciary, you cannot replace the prosecutor, you cannot replace your defence lawyer, but what you can do is augment that work with AI. Clearly, we are not in a place where we want AI agents adjudicating in a particular case. We are in a place where the guardrails and safeguards are important, which perhaps is why the Ministry of Justice has been very much a sort of incubation, testing, experimenting place with those safeguards”.
What Did The Lady Chief Justice Say?
Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill told the Lords Constitution Committee that judges had found submissions by litigants in person using AI to be more helpful than those from litigants eschewing the tool. She stated:
“I am positive about AI, cautiously positive. I genuinely see there being huge opportunities for efficiencies within the justice system in all jurisdictions, provided we move cautiously and carefully forward.”
On managing Crown court backlogs, Baroness Carr said AI could identify which cases are ready for trial and “where a particular court centre has capacity”, and that in due course it may be able to predict which cases might crack at a pre-trial preparatory hearing or at trial stage. She added: “There are enormous opportunities. We are not talking about AI doing the judging. We are talking about AI doing the laundry so that judges can do the art”.
What Did The Regulators Say?
SRA Chief Executive, Sarah Rapson, stated:
“AI is already transforming legal services, from enabling small businesses to recover debts, to helping consumers navigate complex legal processes. These tools are improving access to justice in a practical and meaningful way. The lab will accelerate this progress, supporting the growth of legal services that benefit the public, and that maintain the high professional standards that underpin trust in the legal profession.”
Richard Orpin, Chief Executive of the Legal Services Board, added:
“The AI Growth Lab is a pragmatic and timely initiative to accelerate the responsible adoption of AI in legal services. By bringing regulators and industry together, the Lab can provide the clarity and confidence that legal services providers and innovators need to innovate safely and quickly, driving growth in the sector.”
What Did The Professional Bodies Say?
Andrew Thomas KC, Vice Chair of the Criminal Bar Association, welcomed the announcements but highlighted concerns, stating that “the key is to educate judges, criminal barristers and solicitors, and investigators on the safe use of AI, so that its limitations are properly understood by all”. He added:
“AI tools should not be used without checks and balances. There are plenty of examples of lawyers and judges from civil and even criminal work who have come unstuck by relying on AI-drafted documents without checking the veracity of the content.”
Thomas also noted that the government has a dismal record in large IT projects, stating that in the past hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayer money had been wasted on ill-judged commitments to large-scale technology investment, and citing “problems with the rollout of the Common Platform computer system” as a recent example.
Law Society Chief Executive, Ian Jeffery, stated: “While new technology should enhance access to justice, it cannot replace vital funding and additional court staff. Robust safeguards are needed to protect us all and preserve the integrity of the justice system.”
Final Words
The government has confirmed that legal services was the first sector selected to participate in the AI Growth Lab. According to the government’s announcement, applications for AI innovators are expected to open later in the summer of 2026. The SRA has confirmed that legal and regulatory requirements for those it regulates remain unchanged.
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