Abstract
Artificial intelligence is no longer experimental in legal practice. It is operational.
Junior solicitors are drafting advice with AI assistance, summarising disclosure bundles through automation and relying on predictive research tools embedded within everyday workflow systems. In many firms, digital intermediaries now sit between lawyer and output.
Yet while AI has become ordinary in practice, it remains formally absent from the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). This is not an argument that the SQE is flawed, nor a call for technological fashion in assessment. It is a more focused question: if newly qualified solicitors are expected to exercise professional judgement within AI-mediated environments from day one, should qualification assessment more explicitly reflect that reality?
Junior solicitors are drafting advice with AI assistance, summarising disclosure bundles through automation and relying on predictive research tools embedded within everyday workflow systems. In many firms, digital intermediaries now sit between lawyer and output.
Yet while AI has become ordinary in practice, it remains formally absent from the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE). This is not an argument that the SQE is flawed, nor a call for technological fashion in assessment. It is a more focused question: if newly qualified solicitors are expected to exercise professional judgement within AI-mediated environments from day one, should qualification assessment more explicitly reflect that reality?
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 16-17 |
| Number of pages | 2 |
| No. | 8158 |
| Specialist publication | New Law Journal |
| Publication status | Published (VoR) - 24 Apr 2026 |
Funding
None
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