The Solicitors Regulation Authority, which regulates solicitors in England and Wales, has opened an eight-week consultation on updating the Statement of Solicitor Competence, the standard every solicitor must meet, and the knowledge tested in the qualifying exam.
Rather than adding a separate AI section, it proposes building technology and AI into existing competences. Solicitors would have to keep up with developments in AI, check AI output against primary sources when researching, and supervise how the people they manage use these tools.
The consultation closes on 3 December 2026. The regulator plans to publish final versions in April 2027, with changes taking effect in September 2027. It follows a warning notice in August after the regulator received 42 reports of potential AI misuse in a year.