AI Policy

Why this matters

AI tools, such as chatbots, writing helpers and document summarisers, can be useful. But they can cause real problems when used for legal matters.

This policy explains the risks, what we ask of you, and how we use AI in our practice. It is general information, not advice about your situation. Our costs agreement with you also includes a clause about the use of AI.

What is legal professional privilege?

When you talk to your lawyer, or share documents to get legal advice, those communications are usually private. The law protects them from being forced into the open. This protection is called legal professional privilege (or client legal privilege).

If privilege is lost (sometimes called “waived”), other people may be able to see information you expected to stay private. In estate planning, this can matter years later, for example if someone challenges your Will after you pass away.

Why public or free AI tools are risky

Most public and free AI tools are run by outside companies. When you copy and paste private legal information into them, you can lose control of it. Your information may be:

• stored somewhere you don’t control, possibly overseas;
• kept for longer than you expect, even after you delete your chat;
• used to train the company’s AI systems; or
• seen by other people, including through a court order in a later dispute.

Courts have already found that a person’s AI chats about their legal matter were not protected by privilege. That’s why we ask you not to use public or free AI tools for anything connected to your matter.

Paid AI tools: safer, but not automatically safe

Paid AI services sometimes have better privacy settings. But paid does not always mean safe. Some paid tools still store what you type. If you want to use a paid AI tool for anything connected to your matter, please:

1. Ask us first.
2. Don’t upload documents, such as our letters, advice or draft Wills, or your ID, bank, superannuation or medical records.
3. Only use small snippets, and remove names, addresses, dates of birth, account numbers and anything else that could identify you or your family.
4. Turn on privacy settings that stop your content being shared or reused. If you don’t understand the settings, don’t go ahead. Check them again after each update.
5. Keep your account secure with a strong password and two-step login (multi-factor authentication).
6. Keep a short note of what you used and what you typed in.

Special risks for Wills and estate planning

AI is often wrong

AI can sound very convincing but still be wrong. It can:

• get the law wrong, or use out-of-date law;
• apply the law of the wrong state or country;
• miss key facts that change the answer; or
• make up details and present them as true.

If you send us AI-generated material, we must check and correct it. This can slow things down and increase your costs.

Please tell us if you have used AI

Let us know if you have used AI for anything connected to your matter, including to:

• look up legal information or “check” our advice;
• summarise letters, emails or documents;
• write emails or messages to family members or anyone else involved; or
• prepare notes, a list of assets, or instructions for us.

We need to know so we can manage any risk and protect your interests.

Other ways privilege can be lost

AI is not the only risk. You can also lose privilege by:

• sharing our advice or documents with friends or family;
• posting about your matter on social media or online forums; or
• telling others “my lawyer said…” to support your position.

Please speak with us before sharing our advice with anyone.

Quick guide: do and don’t

How we use AI

We use paid, business-grade AI tools to help with administrative tasks and to help us draft and review documents and correspondence.

• A solicitor checks everything. Any material an AI tool helps prepare that leads to advice or documents we give you is checked and verified by a practising solicitor before it reaches you.
• People make the decisions. All legal advice and decisions about your matter are made by a person.
• Your information is not used for training. We set up our AI tools so that your Personal Information is not used to train the provider’s AI models.

Our Privacy Policy explains which AI provider we use, where it processes information, and how we protect your Personal Information.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time as AI tools and the law change. The current version is always available on our website, and we will give you a copy free of charge if you ask.