The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) announces it has signed up to the government’s AI Growth Lab. It is set to be a regulatory initiative designed to assist organisations developing artificial intelligence (AI) products understand and navigate existing regulatory requirements.
Legal services will be the first sector involved in the programme, further to feedback anaylsed by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on the need for clearer regulatory sight and guidance around AI.
“I believe the Legal Sector AI Growth Lab has the potential to accelerate innovation and drive growth across the UK legal sector, and I am delighted that the CLC, as a forward-thinking, pro-innovation regulator, is helping to shape and deliver this important pilot.”
Milton James, Chair, CLC’s Technology and Innovation Working Group
To build on existing collaboration between legal services regulators, the Lab will partner the CLC, the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Legal Services Board.
The programme sets out to provide a controlled environment where organisations can engage with regulators while developing AI products.
The CLC will work with innovators and adopters to surface and address cross-regulatory challenges, identify any questions about compliance with regulators’ rules, and set an example of what good regulatory oversight of AI looks like in practice.
“This is a great example of how the CLC enables safe, responsible and pro-consumer innovation in the regulated legal sector. We look forward to engaging with the AI Growth Lab.”
Etienne Pollard, Juno Legal
The move has been praised by Juno Legal and Farringdon, both CLC-regulated practices.
“The AI Growth Lab is a genuinely important step for the UK legal sector. As an AI-native law firm, we know first-hand that the most exciting opportunities to improve client outcomes often sit at the edges of existing regulatory frameworks — and that what innovators need most is a route to test those ideas safely, with their regulator alongside them.
“The CLC has been exactly that kind of partner for us as we prepared to launch Farringdon: clear-eyed about consumer protection, but genuinely curious about what new technology can do for clients and the wider home buying and selling industry.
“Seeing the CLC partner with DSIT, the SRA, LSB and ICO on the AI Growth Lab is hugely encouraging, and we’d encourage other innovators in legal services to engage with it.”
Sue Bence, COO, Farringdon
The AI Growth Lab hopes to bring clarity and support responsible innovation, boost economic growth and help enhance access to justice for the public by enabling quicker and more affordable services, while maintaining the quality and standards.
