Identifying data
UK law firm: 32,000 ChatGPT requests in a week
In February 2025 it emerged that more than 32,000 requests had gone from the law firm Hill Dickinson to ChatGPT in a single week. The firm made access to public AI tools subject to approval, and said this was not a ban.
In February 2025 the BBC reported on an internal email sent to all staff by the chief technology officer of the UK commercial law firm Hill Dickinson. The email said the firm had noticed a significant increase in the use of AI tools, and in files being uploaded to them. General access to several tools was therefore blocked, and access would from then on be granted on request.
The email also gave figures. In one week across January and February there had been more than 32,000 hits to ChatGPT, more than 3,000 to DeepSeek and almost 50,000 to Grammarly. According to the legal press, these were not separate people or occasions but entered prompts, possibly several in a single session.
The firm denied that this was a ban. Its statement said that its AI policy, introduced in September 2024, does not discourage the use of AI but requires safe and responsible use: an approved case for using an AI platform, no uploading of client information, and checking the accuracy of answers from large language models. The firm said it had received such requests in recent months and granted them. According to the reports, it is not believed that any client or internal files were uploaded during the monitored period.
According to the BBC, a spokesperson for the UK data protection authority, the ICO, said firms should not discourage the use of AI at work.
What can we learn from it?
The case shows that staff use AI tools, and understandably so: they make a lot of work easier. A clear rule thought through in advance does more than a bare ban, as the firm's own policy shows: an approved purpose, no client data, and checked answers. Even a small practice should write this down once – what AI is used for, with which tool, and what stays out of it – so the decision is not made on a tired afternoon with client material on the clipboard.
Sources
- Legal Futures: Law firm plays down BBC story on restricting AI use
- Law Gazette: ChatGPT clampdown is not a ban, insists national firm
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