Legal AI innovators facing regulatory uncertainties have been invited to test their ideas in a government-funded 'sandbox'. The AI growth lab, announced in June, has invited bids from law firms, law tech companies and AI developers. 

According to the announcement, the legal services advisory AI Growth Lab aims to ‘speed up responsible AI adoption in the legal sector and improve access to justice for the public, by helping to make legal services higher-quality, faster and more affordable’.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Legal Services Board, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers and the Information Commissioner’s Office are among the organisations backing the initiative. 

The lab offers a 'single front door' into regulators. It is ‘particularly interested’ in applications from organisations that ‘would benefit from engagement with one or more of the participating regulators, including where an issue may cross multiple regulatory remits or raise novel questions about how existing regulatory frameworks apply in practice’. 

Applications will be reviewed by the relevant regulators. If successful, participation in the sandbox is expected to last for up to nine months. Participation is free and does not imply regulatory approval of an innovation. 

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Case studies cited in the bidding pack include Garfield Law, the 'AI-driven' firm authorised by the SRA last year and a 'conveyancing firm' which has developed a concept for an AI tool that analyses sales packs.

AI minister Kanishka Narayan MP said the legal services sector ‘is the exemplar case for just how impactful AI is set to be’.

Justice minister Sarah Sackman KC MP, added: ‘It is important that our services industry keeps pace and remains at the forefront of digital innovation. That is why we are accelerating innovation across the legal sector, boosting productivity, and delivering a modern justice system that can help cement the UK’s position as a global leader in legal services.’

Applications will close on 27 September.