AI and the Law

In this episode Katherine Apps KC speaks with Tom Whittaker, Head of AI (Advisory) at Burges Salmon LLP about the uses and perils of AI in complex disclosure exercises. They also discuss the practicalities, challenges and legal issues involved with litigation about large computer systems and AI systems. They discuss some of the recent case law concerning inadvertent disclosure of privileged materials, Civil Procedure rules and international standards.

In this episode Katherine Apps KC speaks with Saara Idelbi, a new member of 39 Essex Chambers about AI and the Courts. They discuss the recent Divisional Court (England and Wales) case of R(Ayinde) v the London Borough of Hackney [2025] EWHC 1383 (Admin) and guidance to the legal profession. They discuss what that guidance means in practical terms, and highlight the key regulatory and legal issues which arise when using AI for legal practice, both in the UK and internationally. They also discuss inherent features of generative AI, confidentiality, the “slop” problem, hyper-personalisation and practical steps that can be taken to understand the nature of AI in the context of its use both in legal practice and in the Courts.

David Mitchell speaks to Dr Tom West of Privacy International about the challenges which generative AI poses to individual privacy rights. In a wide-ranging discussion looking at the availability and efficacy of existing legal protections, Tom discusses the interventionist response of the Data Protection Authority in Italy to Chat GPT and DeepSeek, what privacy lawyers might glean from big tech competition disputes in the US and drawing on his own background, the lessons that environmental law might offer in terms of the regulation of generative AI.

In this episode Katherine Apps KC discusses online safety and online harms with Jessica Zucker, Director in the Online Safety Group at OFCOM, the UK’s communications regulator. They discuss the nature of online harms and both the existing legal powers that apply to UK established Video Sharing Platforms, such as TikTok and OnlyFans. They also discuss Ofcom’s new powers under the UK’s Online Safety Act 2023 and key policy and legal considerations related to issues such as the spread of misinformation, freedom of expression, proportionality, and international convergence and divergence in regulatory standards and the need for those in tech and regulation to work together.

In this episode David Mitchell speaks to Hanna Basha and Mark Jones of Payne Hicks Beach about tackling deepfakes on behalf of clients who are victims of different types of AI-generated deepfakes ranging from image based sexual abuse, commercial exploitation and political disinformation. Drawing on their respective expertise in civil and criminal law, Hanna and Mark discuss the practical issues posed by deepfakes, the legal tools available to victims and shortcomings in the current legal protections.

In this episode Katherine Apps KC speaks with environmental law pioneer Stephen Tromans KC about similarities, differences and lessons which can be learned for AI from the development of environmental, nuclear, chemicals and contaminated land law. They touch on the balance between international and domestic legal toolmaking, the effectiveness, or otherwise, of human rights and the common law and how law can best work in the context of rapidly developing technology and complex market pressures.

In this episode Katherine Apps KC speaks with Jennie Thelen about the recent judgment of the First Tier Tribunal decision allowing Clearview AI’s appeal against the Information Commissioner’s fine for unlawful data processing for the development, marketing and use of AI software to “scrape” facial data from the internet and social media and for its use in facial recognition software. The Tribunal judgment is one of the first judgments in the EU to consider the scope of the GDPR territoriality provisions for personal data processing relating to monitoring of behaviour, and the carve outs for use in law enforcement by states and one of the first appeals to be heard against the fines levied on Clearview AI by multiple regulators across the world. Katherine and Jennie discuss extra territoriality more generally and the implications of the judgment for software which learns from worldwide data.

In this episode David Mitchell speaks with Barbora Bukovska from international freedom of expression organisation Article 19 about AI, freedom of expression and civil liberties.  David and Barbora discuss the recent European Court of Human rights judgment on the use of AI facial recognition on the Moscow Metro in Nikolay Glukhin v Russia (application no. 11519/20) in which Article 19 intervened, the proposed EU AI Act, and how other jurisdictions around the world are addressing facial recognition technologies.

Imogen Ireland, Senior Associate at Hogan Lovells, discusses AI and Intellectual Property law. She explores authorship and copyright protection for computer-generated works, AI inventorship in patent law, balancing AI developers and rights holders, and the importance of asking questions for legal uncertainties in contract law.

Patrick Brodie, Head of Employment, Engagement and Equality at law firm, RPC, discusses the use of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT in law firms. They explore what LLMS are, drafting AI policies, potential uses of LLMs in a law firm context, and how AI will impact training solicitors. They also discuss the cultural shift in embracing AI and the fundamental qualities of lawyers that can't be replicated by AI.