More businesses are turning to ChatGPT to draft clauses, explore legal questions or shape the first email to their solicitor. The intent is positive – move faster, reduce admin, capture the facts – but unreviewed AI output can be misleading, wrong, or blind to your commercial context.
This guide shows business owners, operational leads and in-house teams how to use ChatGPT constructively: to organise your thinking and produce a sharper brief, not to replace legal judgment under English law. You’ll get risks to avoid, ready-to-use prompts and example outputs you can adapt immediately.
Prefer to speak to someone? Our commercial law solicitors turn clear instructions into practical agreements and outcomes.
Contents:
- Is it okay to use ChatGPT in legal work at all?
- Why shouldn’t ChatGPT replace legal advice under English law?
- What are the data privacy risks when you use ChatGPT?
- So how should you use ChatGPT?
- What should you never rely on ChatGPT to do?
- How else can an LLM save you time – without replacing your lawyer?
- Bottom line
Is it okay to use ChatGPT in legal work at all?
Yes - with the proper aim. Use it to draft or tidy your instructions: the background, objectives, constraints and documents you’ll share with your solicitor. That reduces back-and-forth, keeps costs predictable, and gets you to a result faster. But treating ChatGPT’s answers as correct legal advice is risky because it may be outdated, hallucinate or lift concepts from other jurisdictions. The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) Risk Outlook flags both the potential of AI and the risks around accuracy, confidentiality and supervision - lawyers still carry professional duties that AI does not.
Why shouldn’t ChatGPT replace legal advice under English law?
Because AI lacks your business context and the professional duties a solicitor owes you, in practice, that means it can:
- Miss commercial nuance (risk appetite, leverage, fallback positions) that drives what “good” looks like in a deal.
- Cite the wrong law or jurisdiction (e.g., US concepts creeping into UK contracts).
- Sound authoritative while being wrong (hallucinations).
- Overlook regulatory duties around data protection, confidentiality and fairness. UK regulators (the Law Society and ICO) stress the careful use and proper governance when AI touches legal work or personal data.
What are the data privacy risks when you use ChatGPT?
Treat anything you type as potentially shareable unless you’re using an enterprise-grade deployment with appropriate controls. OpenAI states that consumer ChatGPT content may be used to train models unless you opt out; by contrast, ChatGPT Enterprise/Team says business data isn’t used for training by default and offers stronger admin controls and retention settings. Whatever you use, align with UK GDPR/ICO guidance: avoid unnecessary personal data, minimise and anonymise, and keep special category data out.
Practical rule: Don’t paste confidential terms, prices, dates, names, claim details or attachments into public chatbots. If your business has ChatGPT Enterprise/Team or a private model, confirm retention, training and access controls with IT/Legal first.
So how should you use ChatGPT?
Use it to shape your instruction - the clearer your brief, the better (and faster) your outcome. Here’s a simple workflow:
- Draft your objective (what “good” looks like in business terms).
- Summarise background (who’s involved, timelines, the commercial context).
- List documents you’ll share securely with your solicitor.
- Set constraints (deadlines, negotiation red lines, regulatory must-haves).
- Flag risks/questions you need advice on.
This mirrors how experienced counsel triage matters and is consistent with UK professional guidance that positions AI as a tool, not a decision‑maker.
Copy-paste prompts you can use safely (and why they help)
Prompt 1 – “Help me prepare my brief” (no confidential details):
You are a UK commercial-law assistant. I’m preparing to brief my solicitor. Generate a checklist of the facts and documents a solicitor will likely need to advise under English law on [TOPIC]. Focus on business context, risks, deadlines and decision points. Exclude any personal data or sensitive commercial details and remind me to share actual documents through secure channels, not here.
Example output (edited for brevity):
- Objective and success criteria (what outcome we need and by when).
- Parties and roles (customer/supplier, group entities, overseas links).
- Deal context (value, pricing model, exclusivity, IP ownership).
- Timetable (key dates, dependencies, regulatory approvals).
- Risks to test (liability caps, data protection, export controls).
- Documents to prepare (draft heads of terms, specs, prior correspondence).
- Questions for the solicitor (what’s market standard? where to push?).
Prompt 2 – “Turn my notes into a clean instruction email” (use placeholders):
You are a UK commercial-law assistant. Using the bullet points below, draft a concise email to my solicitor that summarises the background and what I need them to do. Keep it factual, no legal conclusions. Use placeholders such as [COMPANY], [COUNTERPARTY], [DATE], and [VALUE]. Remind me not to paste confidential attachments here.
Example output (abridged):
Subject: Instruction – review of [AGREEMENT] with [COUNTERPARTY]
Hi [SOLICITOR],
We’re negotiating a [TYPE OF AGREEMENT] with [COUNTERPARTY] for ~[VALUE]. Our target signing date is [DATE].
- Objective: Secure [key outcome] while keeping liability within [range] and protecting [IP/data].
- Background: We’ve exchanged a draft – main pressure points: [X, Y, Z].
- Please advise on: (1) data processing terms vs UK GDPR; (2) IP ownership of deliverables; (3) cap/indemnities; (4) termination for convenience.
I’ll upload the draft, spec and emails to our secure portal. Let me know if anything is missing.
Privacy note: If you don’t have an enterprise-grade setup, keep names, dates and attachments out of the chatbot. Share real files via your usual secure methods.
What should you never rely on ChatGPT to do?
- Draft final legal documents or bespoke clauses for signature.
- Answer jurisdiction-specific legal questions without a solicitor’s review.
- Assess litigation risk or respond to claims - mistakes can prejudice your position.
- Process personal or confidential data only if you have a compliant enterprise deployment and a lawful basis under the UK GDPR.
For deeper dives on where AI helps - and where it doesn’t - see our related guides:
- Can ChatGPT draft your NDA?
- Can ChatGPT draft your legal terms of business?
- ChatGPT and employment contracts: risks and realities
- ChatGPT and GDPR: what UK businesses should know
How else can an LLM save you time – without replacing your lawyer?
- Internal comms: ask it to draft a plain-English update for stakeholders (“What’s happening, why it matters, next steps”), while you keep specifics out of the chat and attach documents securely.
- Issue triage: generate a question list before scoping a matter with us (e.g., which approvals, which data flows, which IP inputs/outputs).
- Negotiation rehearsal: role‑play common pushbacks so you’re prepared for the other side’s arguments (your solicitor can refine the strategy).
Bottom line
Be proactive – use ChatGPT to frame the problem. But stay grounded – your solicitor brings legal insight, judgment, ethics and market experience that AI can’t. That human layer is what turns a neat prompt into a deal that protects your business. The SRA and the Law Society agree; responsible, supervised use is the way forward.
If you’d like us to sense check your AI-drafted brief or turn it into a robust contract or response under English law, our commercial law solicitors can help – fast, pragmatic, and focused on your outcomes.
