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.