One in six people in legal disputes now use AI chatbots for advice, Justice report finds

# One in six people in legal disputes now use AI chatbots for advice, Justice report finds

A survey of more than 3,000 people has found that 16% of those involved in a legal dispute in the past two years turned to an AI chatbot for help, information or advice.

The research, carried out by legal thinktank Justice and the Administrative Fairness Lab, offers the first large-scale snapshot of how the public is using generative AI during legal problems.

Of the 3,287 people surveyed, 1,428 said they had been involved in a legal dispute over the past two years. Within that group, 16% used an AI chatbot for help with their situation.

How people are using AI for legal advice

The report shows that people are not simply asking chatbots to draft letters. They are using them at every stage of a legal journey.

Some asked direct questions about their rights and options. Examples included queries such as: “I'd like help with a legal reasoning on a disputed parking fine” and “what happens when I go to court and how do I address the magistrates?”.

Others used AI to translate legal jargon into plain English. One respondent copied and pasted a lawyer's email into a chatbot and asked for it to be explained in “normal person language”.

The survey also found people using AI to check lawyers' conduct. One person asked whether they could complain about their lawyer using Google Maps to verify a building's height. Another asked whether it was appropriate for a solicitor to request mortgage funds without their consent.

Support and reassurance were common too. One person who believed they had a medical negligence claim asked an AI tool whether it agreed, and which solicitor in Manchester was likely to take the case.

What the findings mean for solicitors

The results suggest that AI is already part of the public's legal journey, whether law firms like it or not. For many users, chatbots are filling a gap left by confusing language, high costs and limited access to early legal advice.

Justice's deputy legal director, Ellen Lefley, said: “The question is not whether AI becomes part of people's legal journeys — it already is. This research provides a unique insight into who is using it and how. The challenge now is ensuring people receive reliable support, while addressing the unmet legal needs that drive some towards AI in the first place.”

That challenge is likely to fall partly on law firms. If potential clients are arriving at a solicitor's office already armed with AI-generated summaries, firms will need to explain where the chatbot got it right, where it missed something important, and why professional advice still matters.

Our view: AI is the first port of call, not the last

This research should be a wake-up call for any firm that still thinks generative AI is only being used by lawyers.

Members of the public are using chatbots to interpret correspondence, compare options and decide whether to instruct a solicitor at all. That makes the first interaction with a law firm more demanding, not less. Clients may arrive with misplaced confidence, half-understood rights, or a belief that a free chatbot has already done the heavy lifting.

The opportunity for firms is to become the credible next step. That means clearer websites, plain-English explanations, and fee structures that do not punish people for asking an initial question. Firms that meet clients where they are — and acknowledge that AI may have been the first port of call — are more likely to win trust than those that pretend the chatbot conversation never happened.

The wider picture

The findings come as regulators, courts and law firms continue to debate how AI should be used in the delivery of legal services. While much of the focus has been on lawyers' own use of tools such as contract analysis and litigation prediction, the public's use of consumer AI has received less attention.

Justice argues that policymakers now need to consider how people can be supported to use AI safely, while also tackling the underlying reasons they turn to chatbots in the first place. Those reasons include cost, complexity and a sense that the legal system is difficult to navigate without help.

For law firms, the message is clear: AI is no longer just a back-office efficiency tool. It is increasingly the front door through which clients arrive.