Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Crane & Staples
At Crane & Staples, we recognise that our clients instruct us for our legal expertise, professional judgement, experience and, most importantly, our personal, human approach. We also recognise the benefits that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can offer when used cautiously, responsibly and appropriately, particularly where it may help improve efficiency and enhance the quality of our service.
Accordingly, we may use approved AI tools to assist with simple administrative and business functions. This may include improving the wording or presentation of communications, drafting marketing content, extracting and organising information from documents, and identifying or collating potential sources for research. Any information, sources or content generated with the assistance of AI must be independently reviewed, verified and approved by a member of our team before being relied upon or used. AI is not used as a substitute for legal expertise, professional judgement, independent legal research or legal advice.
Where AI tools are utilised, they operate within secure systems approved by the firm. We do not input confidential information into open or publicly available AI platforms, nor do we permit such information to be used to train AI models. Protecting client confidentiality, data security and maintaining the highest professional standards remain paramount in all aspects of our work.
The firm's guidance for staff on the permitted and prohibited use of AI is set out in our internal policies and procedures. As AI technology continues to develop, these policies are regularly reviewed and updated to reflect legal, regulatory and professional requirements. Our staff receive appropriate training on the responsible and secure use of AI and are expected to comply with the firm's policies at all times.
Our commitment is that legal advice and professional judgement will always be provided by our lawyers, reflecting the human expertise, specialist training and experience which our team work hard to develop and maintain. We recognise that our clients choose us as their trusted advisers for these reasons and we are proud to provide a personal, tailored approach to each matter that only experienced legal professionals can deliver. While technology may assist certain aspects of our work, it cannot replace the trusted relationships, empathy, insight and expertise that are at the heart of the service we provide.
If you have any questions regarding our use of AI, please speak to the member of the team handling your matter or email clientcare@crane-staples.co.uk. For further information about the use of AI in the legal profession, please visit the Law Society's guidance on generative AI: https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/ai-and-lawtech/generative-ai-the-essentials and the SRA’s Warning Notice on the Misuse of AI: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/misuse-ai/.