AI sending users to penalised law firms
ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini have directed users in search of a law firm to firms which have been fined and even shut down by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, according to an access to justice report.
The report – which was published by legal charity Blind Justice UK last month – found that the three leading AI assistants could find the SRA decisions impacting the recommended firms, but did not tell the user.
Blind Justice UK asked the models thirty times for the best conveyancing solicitors in Doncaster. In every single instance, they chose a firm fined by the SRA. ChatGPT and Claude chose a firm that had faced a £23,549 fine in 2025, while Gemini opted for one fined £30,540 in 2020. The AI assistants did not tell the user.
When asked ten times for the best conveyancing solicitor in Maidenhead, Claude repeatedly named a firm shut down by the SRA seven months earlier.
The charity asked the assistants whether each firm had been fined or disciplined by the SRA, and found that they were able to source the information.
Blind Justice UK says the assistants were basing their answers on Google business listings, ReviewSolicitors and Trustpilot. ReviewSolicitors – which was the site quoted from the most – does not show law firm penalties and allows for firms to purchase Premium membership permitting them to feature prominently in the rankings.
The charity also points to the SRA’s policy of removing penalty decisions from its website three years after publication. It recommends that the SRA publish every penalty as “open, machine-readable data” with every trading name of a firm.
It also says the authority should stop removing decisions about firm-level failings over client money while the firm is still trading. It recommends that ReviewSolicitors show SRA decisions on the profiles and rankings pages, and identify which firms pay for Premium membership.
The full report is available here.