Guide · Law firms
AI for UK law firms: the admin around the advice
For a small UK law firm, AI helps most with the admin around legal work: triaging new enquiries, sorting and naming documents, first drafts of routine letters, chasing clients for documents, and summarising files for the fee earner. Legal advice, and anything that goes to a client or a court, stays with a solicitor. The SRA has said firms must supervise AI systems and staff use of them, because AI "does not have a concept of truth" (SRA Risk Outlook, 2023, reported by Legal Futures).
Where AI helps a firm
| Job | What AI does | Who checks |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry intake | Sorts new enquiries by matter type and drafts an acknowledgement | A person sends and decides who takes it |
| Document handling | Names, files and indexes what clients send | Exceptions go to a person |
| Chasing clients | Drafts reminders for missing documents and signatures | A person sends |
| Routine letters | First drafts from your own templates and the file | The fee earner edits and signs |
| File summaries | A short summary of correspondence for whoever picks the file up | The fee earner |
What it mustn't do
Give legal advice, draft anything filed with a court without a solicitor checking every citation, or make decisions on conflicts, client due diligence or anything regulated. AI prepares; a solicitor decides.
Confidentiality
The Law Society's guidance, updated September 2025, says not to put confidential data into tools where you have no proper relationship with the vendor, and to review AI outputs for accuracy (Law Society). We build in business tools with data controls, inside your firm's own systems wherever we can, with access limited to what each workflow needs.
How we work with firms
We build around the regulated decision and never inside it: we draft, sort and prepare, and a qualified person decides. More on how we work outside retail. Niddy's AI Audit costs £1,495 fixed, takes five days with minimal client time, and carries a guarantee: ten times the fee in estimated annual value identified, or the fee back.
| What | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| AI Audit | £1,495 fixed | Five days, minimal client time. A build, buy or wait plan from your own numbers. Ten times the fee in estimated annual value identified, or the fee back. |
| Sprint 1: set-up and team workshop | At the Sprint rate | Accounts and permissions set up properly, and a workshop so your team knows what the tools are for and who approves what. |
| Sprint, per workflow | £2,950 | One workflow built, tested and handed over in five to ten working days, in your own tools wherever we can. |
| Foundation | £2,000 a month | We advise and direct, your team implements. |
| Growth | £5,000 a month | Ongoing builds and support, three-month minimum. |
Run a firm and want to know where AI fits safely? Book a 30-minute call.
or email hello@niddy.co.uk
Questions we get asked
Can law firms use AI?
Yes, with supervision. The SRA expects firms to supervise AI and staff use of it, and the Law Society's guidance covers confidentiality and checking outputs (Law Society).
Is it safe to put client documents into AI?
Only in business tools with proper data controls and a vendor relationship, under a written firm policy, and in line with your regulator's expectations.
Will AI replace solicitors?
Not the advice or the judgement. It takes over admin around the legal work, and every output is checked by a person.
How much does it cost?
Our AI Audit is £1,495 fixed and each workflow is £2,950. See our UK cost guide.