Barristers and judges
Barristers and judges prepare and conduct court cases on behalf of clients, preside over judicial proceedings, and pronounce judgements within a variety of court settings and tribunals.
- Employees (UK)
- 28k
- Median annual pay
- £34,253
- Exposure score ?
- 0.0/10 Minimal 8.5/10 Very high strict reading, with tools is 8.5/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.0/10
- Wage exposure
- £0 £0
Higher exposure than 2% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Almost every routine task in this role is within reach of today's models. Roles like this are being rebuilt, usually not by disappearing but by one person using AI to produce what several did.
If you are in this role
Be the person doing the rebuilding. People who learn to run this kind of work with AI become very valuable, and the ones who wait tend to have the change made for them.
Where the work usually starts.
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.
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Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses.
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Analyze the probable outcomes of cases, using knowledge of legal precedents.
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Gather evidence to formulate defense or to initiate legal actions by such means as interviewing clients and witnesses to ascertain the facts of a case.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses.
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Analyze the probable outcomes of cases, using knowledge of legal precedents.
-
Gather evidence to formulate defense or to initiate legal actions by such means as interviewing clients and witnesses to ascertain the facts of a case.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Lawyers" (23-1011.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 22 tasks, unaided
No tasks here are labelled as something an LLM can do unaided. Switch to 'With tools' above to see what changes when AI is paired with the right context.
What still needs a person
22 of 22 tasks
Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses.
Analyze the probable outcomes of cases, using knowledge of legal precedents.
Gather evidence to formulate defense or to initiate legal actions by such means as interviewing clients and witnesses to ascertain the facts of a case.
Present and summarize cases to judges and juries.
Represent clients in court or before government agencies.
Select jurors, argue motions, meet with judges, and question witnesses during the course of a trial.
Evaluate findings and develop strategies and arguments in preparation for presentation of cases.
Present evidence to defend clients or prosecute defendants in criminal or civil litigation.
Advise clients concerning business transactions, claim liability, advisability of prosecuting or defending lawsuits, or legal rights and obligations.
Examine legal data to determine advisability of defending or prosecuting lawsuit.
Prepare, draft, and review legal documents, such as wills, deeds, patent applications, mortgages, leases, and contracts.
Study Constitution, statutes, decisions, regulations, and ordinances of quasi-judicial bodies to determine ramifications for cases.
Negotiate settlements of civil disputes.
Supervise legal assistants.
Negotiate contractual agreements.
Probate wills and represent and advise executors and administrators of estates.
Prepare legal briefs and opinions, and file appeals in state and federal courts of appeal.
Confer with colleagues with specialties in appropriate areas of legal issue to establish and verify bases for legal proceedings.
Act as agent, trustee, guardian, or executor for businesses or individuals.
Search for and examine public and other legal records to write opinions or establish ownership.
Perform administrative and management functions related to the practice of law.
Help develop federal and state programs, draft and interpret laws and legislation, and establish enforcement procedures.
Tasks via O*NET "Lawyers" (23-1011.00).
What AI can already do
18 of 22 tasks, with tools
Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses.
Analyze the probable outcomes of cases, using knowledge of legal precedents.
Gather evidence to formulate defense or to initiate legal actions by such means as interviewing clients and witnesses to ascertain the facts of a case.
Present and summarize cases to judges and juries.
Evaluate findings and develop strategies and arguments in preparation for presentation of cases.
Present evidence to defend clients or prosecute defendants in criminal or civil litigation.
Advise clients concerning business transactions, claim liability, advisability of prosecuting or defending lawsuits, or legal rights and obligations.
Examine legal data to determine advisability of defending or prosecuting lawsuit.
Prepare, draft, and review legal documents, such as wills, deeds, patent applications, mortgages, leases, and contracts.
Study Constitution, statutes, decisions, regulations, and ordinances of quasi-judicial bodies to determine ramifications for cases.
Negotiate settlements of civil disputes.
Probate wills and represent and advise executors and administrators of estates.
Prepare legal briefs and opinions, and file appeals in state and federal courts of appeal.
Confer with colleagues with specialties in appropriate areas of legal issue to establish and verify bases for legal proceedings.
Act as agent, trustee, guardian, or executor for businesses or individuals.
Search for and examine public and other legal records to write opinions or establish ownership.
Perform administrative and management functions related to the practice of law.
Help develop federal and state programs, draft and interpret laws and legislation, and establish enforcement procedures.
What still needs a person
4 of 22 tasks
Represent clients in court or before government agencies.
Select jurors, argue motions, meet with judges, and question witnesses during the course of a trial.
Supervise legal assistants.
Negotiate contractual agreements.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Professional occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons