Can my law firm get paid to train AI? Via its lawyers and its own drafting

Short answer for a busy partner

Yes, in two ways that never touch a client file: lawyers are paid individually by the hour to write and grade legal tasks, and a firm can license the precedents and procedures it wrote for itself. Client information stays out unless the client consents, under paragraph 6.3 of the SRA's Code.

Source: SRA rules and copyright law on client information and AI training

What the SRA and the Copyright Act say

The SRA's guidance on paragraph 6.3 says a firm must keep the affairs of current and former clients confidential unless disclosure is required or permitted by law or the client consents, and that the duty extends to any use of the information other than for the client's benefit.

Source: SRA rules and copyright law on client information and AI training

Section 11(2) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act makes the employer the first owner of copyright in a work an employee makes in the course of employment, subject to any agreement to the contrary. Tasks and model answers staff write at work are therefore the firm's to license, unless a contract says otherwise.

Source: SRA rules and copyright law on client information and AI training

Who pays lawyers, and how much

Mercor's standing listing for lawyers, read on 23 October 2026, says projects in the field have posted at $100 to $150 an hour, set per project by scope and depth. The money goes to the lawyer as a contractor, not to the firm, and the listing says the work involves no access to confidential information from any employer or client.

Source: Law firm data buyers

Handshake's AI Fellowship pays hourly but requires participants to be based in the United States with work authorisation Handshake can support, so it is not a route for a UK firm's people.

Source: Law firm data buyers

Where the firm itself is paid

micro1 licenses a company's own operational material rather than its people's time. Its page asks for established companies with 30 or more full-time employees and says payments typically range from $150K to over $2M, paid in full within 30 days of acceptance.

Source: micro1, monetise your company's operational data

The same page names policies, contract workflows, review processes and compliance procedures as the legal material it takes, and says current demand is strongest for companies in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Source: micro1, monetise your company's operational data

Strip these out before any licence

• Any client's name, matter facts or correspondence, which paragraph 6.3 keeps confidential without that client's consent.
• Work a lawyer made outside the course of their employment, which section 11 does not give the firm.
• Anything an engagement letter or a supplier contract restricts, read before a buyer sees a sample.

A note to send your managing partner

"AI companies pay lawyers $100 to $150 an hour for legal tasks, and pay established firms for their own precedents and procedures. No client files are involved. Worth a short call to see whether ours qualifies?"

Other questions a firm asks

Licensing the firm's drafting is on can a law firm license its precedents and templates, and why archived matters are different is on closed matter files. To ask about your firm, use the enquiry form.