Woodfi nes Solicitors


Do I really need a lawyer to settle my legal dispute?


T is question is becoming increasingly common with the introduction and development of Artifi cial Intelligence (AI) platforms which are now accessible online with the click of a button. A human can type a question or a set of facts into a chat box and receive a response from AI almost immediately. T is begs the question: do you really need to pay for a


lawyer when you can get answers online… in seconds… for free? It seems like a no brainer. Unfortunately, these things are not always as simple as


they may seem. T ere is no guarantee that every answer and response produced by AI is accurate and reliable. In fact, we have seen several incidences recently where AI models have provided information that is misleading and sometimes even entirely fabricated. T ese are known as ‘hallucinations’ and can cause huge issues for litigants in person who are relying on these outputs to represent themselves in a legal dispute claim. In the case of Harber v Revenue and Customs


Commissioners [2023] UKFTT 1007 (TC), Mrs Harber appealed a penalty that she had received from HMRC on the basis that she had a reasonable excuse. Mrs Harber provided the tribunal with the names, dates and summaries of nine First-tier Tribunal decisions which supported her case. Unfortunately, these cases were not genuine and had in fact been made up by an AI platform that she had used.


Teleasha Vrioni-Wright Trainee Solicitor Woodfi nes Solicitors


Our Dispute Resolution team have seen a recent


increase in enquiries from clients who have used AI platforms in replacement of a lawyer to guide them through the litigation process; including preparing correspondence for negotiations and drafting documentation for court proceedings. We have seen several litigants in person being stung in the process, resulting in a signifi cant amount of money and time being spent to rectify issues that have been caused by AI hallucinations. Instructing a lawyer from the outset is likely to be far


more cost-eff ective than instructing us later to resolve issues that could have been prevented. Setting things right is likely to be costly and involve additional work such as preparing applications for extensions of time, or fi ling applications to have previous judgments set aside. In addition to the risk around hallucinations produced


by AI platforms, there are huge concerns around the lack of confi dentiality and privacy that they off er to users. In a recent interview, Sam Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, compared a sensitive conversation that you might have with ChatGPT to a sensitive conversation that you might have with your doctor or lawyer and said: ‘…if you talk to a therapist, or a lawyer, or a doctor about those problems, there is legal privilege for it. T ere is doctor-patient confi dentiality, there’s legal confi dentiality… and we haven’t fi gured that out yet for when you talk to ChatGPT. So, if you go talk to ChatGPT about your most sensitive stuff and then there’s a lawsuit, we could be required to produce that’. T e concept of legal privilege protects certain confi dential


communications, such legal advice that is given from a lawyer to a client, from being disclosed to any third party. T ere is no such privilege or protection when inputting confi dential details into AI platforms, meaning that private conversations can be exposed in legal proceedings. We would strongly encourage everyone to always take


advice from a qualifi ed lawyer with the knowledge and experience to assist in the circumstances. Having a human touch is always helpful when it comes


to assessing strategy, cost eff ectiveness and engaging in negotiation. It is also essential when considering the issues around legal privilege and confi dentiality. Whilst AI is impressive, we can’t depend on it for legal advice (yet). If you fi nd yourself in the midst of a dispute and need assistance, don’t rely on AI!


Contact Woodfi nes Solicitors at www.woodfi nes.co.uk


ALL THINGS BUSINESS | 30


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44