SRA Updates Effective Supervision Guidance — AI-Assisted Work and Non-Authorised Staff Both Covered
The Solicitors Regulation Authority published updated Effective Supervision Guidance this week, incorporating clarity on supervision of non-authorised staff, delegation of litigation conduct, documentation and audit expectations, and — critically — the supervision of AI-assisted work. The update follows the Court of Appeal's Mazur judgment and is directly relevant to risk assessment for firms depl
BY FRONTIER DESK · JULY 15, 2026 · 1 MIN READ
The Solicitors Regulation Authority published updated Effective Supervision Guidance this week, incorporating clarity on supervision of non-authorised staff, delegation of litigation conduct, documentation and audit expectations, and — critically — the supervision of AI-assisted work. The update follows the Court of Appeal's Mazur judgment and is directly relevant to risk assessment for firms deploying AI drafting and research tools: firms must now be able to demonstrate that supervision arrangements for AI-generated outputs are documented, structured, and auditable, not simply that supervision nominally exists. For managing partners overseeing both wellbeing and risk compliance, the SRA guidance connects the supervision quality agenda — which is central to junior lawyer support and development — to the AI governance agenda, since the same inadequate supervision structures that produce burnout risk in junior lawyers are now also producing AI hallucination liability exposure. Law firms that build their AI governance around documented supervision protocols are simultaneously investing in the junior lawyer development infrastructure that the NALP and LawSoc data shows is most predictive of retention.