BSB Issues First Substantive AI Guidance for Barristers

The Bar Standards Board published new guidance on 18 May 2026 on the safe and responsible use of AI, framing compliance as a competence and practice-management matter rather than a new rule set. The guidance identifies a three-part risk framework covering the application, the use, and the technology itself; it singles out free consumer AI tools (ChatGPT free, Claude.ai consumer) as generally unsuitable for client work because their terms allow data retention and model training. Court submissions, work with vulnerable clients, and AI-generated drafting and agentic systems are placed at the high-risk end of the scale. The BSB guidance is now being cited as a template the SRA has not yet matched, and the Law Society's own CJC consultation response has called explicitly for SRA guidance on baseline AI competence, verification, training, and firm-level governance.