Impact of AI looms over busy legal sector

The adoption of AI has been one of the biggest issues in the legal sector over the last year | InfiniteFlow - stock.adobe.com

The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) has been one of the biggest topics dominating the Scottish legal profession over the last 12 months.

Like almost every organisation on the planet, Scotland’s law firms are finding themselves facing growing pressure to introduce more AI systems into their work, while wrestling with the ethical and professional ramifications.

And the wider availability of AI agents has also been linked to a continuing rise in litigation in Scotland, with concerns that the volume of cases filed by AI agents could lead to the system becoming swamped.

The huge impact of this new technology, likened to the arrival of email or the internet in terms of its anticipated transformative effect, has just been one of the issues being wrestled with by law firms.

For Law Society of Scotland CEO Ben Kemp, it has been a busy first year at the head of Scotland’s legal professional body.

“My year has been brilliant - a whirlwind of activity, which is something that has been true for the profession in general,” he said.

“There has been an awful lot going on, and clearly there is a very substantial climate of change in many different respects.

“There is a lot of activity, a lot of growth, an increase in the number of trainees coming through this year, in fact a record number of trainees coming through this year.”

Ben Kemp, Law Society of Scotland Chief Excutive | Contributed

Of all the challenges being faced by the sector, Ben admitted none were as widely discussed as AI, and with good reason. Something that was still an emerging technology even a year ago has over the last 12 months become a ubiquitous tool. Research has suggested around 94% of Scottish lawyers say they are now using AI in some capacity, while around a third say they are already dependent on it.

And while the biggest uses are to bring efficiencies to areas such as document checking and research, there are concerns over ‘AI hallucinations’ and other unreliabilities.

“It presents concerns and opportunities,” Ben said. “Law has always evolved with technology and new ways of working - I’m old enough to remember the advent of emails and the internet and the huge shift that it created. Now we have AI and the pace of change is even faster. It is a huge opportunity.

“The challenge is going to be around the skills that lawyers need in the future to harness and use the technology effectively, the types of roles that should be taken on by AI and the role of humans in all of that.

“It is something all firms are working through in different ways and at different speeds, but it has been on the minds of nearly everyone I have spoken to this year.”

Fraser Gillies, Managing Partner, Wright Johnston & Mackenzie LLP, said: "The impact of AI on the legal profession over the last 12 months, and some of the concerns and opportunities it presents to the industry

"We're utilising AI across the business where its use for basic admin is becoming routine. We’re also trialling more specialist AI products, particularly in transactional areas of law.

"The technology is constantly evolving so we are focussing on making the right decisions at the right time. I expect AI to become a growth engine for our firm to do more with the people we have."

Andy Poole, Legal Sector Corporate Finance Partner with Armstrong Watson, said the ability of AI to improve efficiency could have far-reaching implications.

“The opportunity is significant,” he said. “Used well, it can improve efficiency, reduce time spent on routine tasks and enable lawyers to focus more of their time on higher-value client work. However, greater efficiency does not automatically translate into greater profitability.

“For Scottish law firms, that raises important questions about pricing and, in particular, how traditional models based on billable hours may need to evolve as AI changes the time required to deliver certain services, whilst adding to expenditure given the increasing cost of technology.

“The broader direction of travel is clear: firms need to think carefully about how they price their expertise, alongside investment, skills and changing client expectations.

“There are also understandable concerns around accuracy, confidentiality and appropriate oversight, so good governance and professional judgement remain essential.

“The Scottish firms that benefit most from AI are likely to be those that approach it not simply as a technology project, but as a broader business transformation.”

For Ben the biggest challenge is to ensure that however the technology is used, the human element is not replaced.

“Fundamentally law is a human business, a human profession and while we clearly need to harness the technology we cannot replace the essential element of one human being helping others solve problems at difficult times in their lives,” he said.

“The humanity of law must remain at the forefront of the industry - it is at the core of what the profession is about.”

The changes being wrought by technology are just one of the areas the legal profession has been tackling. January saw a historic change to Scots Law, as the long controversial ‘not proven’ verdict was removed in January, and work is continuing around the creation of a specialist Sexual Offences Court in Scotland.

Legal Aid reform has been another major topic on the agenda, with concerns that a lack of funding and an increase in ‘red tape’ were leaving some people without access to justice. The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) reported a drop in the number of active civil legal aid practitioners in Scotland in the 12 months to June 2026, continuing a trend of steady decline.

There has been a general acceptance that reform is needed, with practitioners facing complex and time-consuming processes to claim legal aid for their clients. The Scottish Government is consulting on proposals for a new Legal Aid bill and reforms by 2027, and earlier this year, solicitors’ legal aid fees saw a 13% increase, with further reforms expected this year.

“Legal Aid has been a massive policy focus this year,” Ben said. “It’s an issue that goes to access to justice for communities across Scotland, and the ability of all of us to access properly qualified legal advice and be represented in some of these challenging cases.

“We have been making real progress on that. There has been a significant uplift in funding, and we are working constructively with the Scottish Government on continued reform.

“Clearly funding is critical but it is also about the way in which the system operates - the current system is too complicated, too bureaucratic.

“That is about the rule of law too - you can’t have an effective rule of law if you have legal aid deserts, areas where there are no legal aid providers or where the system is not working effectively.”

Other areas of political change have also been keeping the legal profession busy, with changes to Inheritance Tax chief among them as people grapple with uncertainty over what the future will look like.

Andrew Paterson, partner and chairman at Murray Beith Murray, said the changes to Inheritance Tax since 2024 had driven a huge amount of business for firms.

“The last two years have been very busy for us, as a lot of our work is linked with succession and tax planning, so the budgets in 20224/25 and all the uncertainty over what the Inheritance Tax changes would be led to a lot of concern.

“Inheritance tax had barely changed since 1984, so some of the biggest changes have come in the last two years and the uncertainty has driven a massive amount of work.

“We have seen huge transfers of generational wealth over the last few years, so it has been a very busy time for us helping clients navigate that, which has been incredibly challenging, helping people make decisions about the future without any real certainty over what the changes would be.”

This has also been a year which has seen the international rule of law tested as never before, and Scotland has joined legal communities around the world in pushing back against the American government’s attack on law firms and its unprecedented challenge to the authority of the international criminal court.

The rule of law has come under attack over the last year. | Getty Images for MoveOn

“For the first time I can remember we have seen the idea of the rule of law not being a dry academic concept,” Ben said. “It has been taken for granted, but now we are seeing the threat to it, the challenge to it from different parts of the world.

“I was quite proud that we joined forces with other law societies in a legal action in support of law firms who were being challenged by the Trump administration.

“We also spoke out along with other law societies and bar associations in protest at the sanctions imposed on the international criminal court, we saw that as an attack on the rule of laws and the independence of the judiciary.

“In Scotland I feel that we have a strong legal system, a strong judiciary, and that is something we want to protect.”

Closer to home however, the dual role of the Lord Advocate has come under scrutiny. Currently the Lord Advocate is both senior law officer, chief public prosecutor, and principal legal adviser to the Scottish Government.

The fall-out from the Peter Murrell saga led to questions being asked about information on the trial given to First Minister John Swinney by the then Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC. Ms Bain later stood down, although after serving a five year term that would not have been unexpected anyway.

The row has rumbled on however, with the Law Society of Scotland and others backing consultation which could lead to separating the different roles.

“On the position of the Lord Advocate and Solicitor General, our counsel reached the view that it was appropriate to explore the constitutional position of those roles, but that is absolutely no reflection either the current or previous Lord Advocate,” Ben said.

“What we are concerned about is whether the current constitutional arrangements are the right ones. We are a church of many persuasions but stand together behind principles that underpin the justice system.

“Despite all of the challenges there is a huge amount of positivity - we recently did a roadshow event in Stirling which has a lot of events, and for most of the partners I spoke to the strong sense was that there just wasn’t enough time in the day.

“It’s a positive problem and a good reflection of the health of the sector. And the future would also seem positive - there is strong competition for law school places, diplomas, traineeships, activity in the market and appointments at different levels.

“So at a very broad brush level the Scottish legal sector is a very active, healthy, thriving profession.”