The AI “arms race” in the Employment Tribunal: what you need to understand about our approach to defending claims from unrepresented Claimants

More and more employees bring tribunal claims without a lawyer and draft their documents with AI tools such as ChatGPT.

AI can help people who cannot afford legal advice to bring a claim. However, the documents it produces are often too long, include irrelevant material and miss the key points. For their part, many respondent employers’ solicitors have adopted or developed their own specialist AI tools.

Two recent developments set out what is expected of each side.

• The first is the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s (EAT) decision in Hancox v Sutherland & Others [2026] EAT 139.
• The second is the Law Society’s practice note, Using artificial intelligence in legal practice, published on 21 October 2026.

The Claimant’s duties

In Hancox, the claimant sent the EAT a skeleton argument created with ChatGPT. It ran to 300 pages and almost 132,000 words, and it did not comply with the EAT’s Practice Direction. He then asked the respondents to point out any errors in it by 4pm the following day. The EAT confirmed that its rules apply to every litigant, whether or not they have a lawyer. Anyone who uses AI must follow the procedural rules and keep to the relevant points. They must also check their documents for accuracy as thoroughly as they reasonably can. Submitting unchecked AI output, or leaving the other side to check it, is not acceptable. Where those checks have not been made, the tribunal is likely to ask questions and may impose sanctions. Hancox concerned the EAT, but employers may be able to rely on it in the Employment Tribunal as well.

Our duties as your solicitors

As your solicitors, we are held to a higher standard. We remain responsible for all work submitted to the tribunal on your behalf, whether or not AI has been used in its preparation. Everything we put before the tribunal must be accurate and supported by genuine sources. The courts have made clear that any misuse of AI by lawyers is taken seriously and is likely to lead to a referral to the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Where a claimant is using AI, we will examine the material carefully and identify any procedural defects. We will avoid distraction by irrelevant or repetitive content, while ensuring the genuine issues in dispute are properly addressed. If it appears that a claimant has relied upon fabricated authorities, we will consider whether it is appropriate to raise those matters with the tribunal. In doing so, we will balance your interests as the respondent with our duties as officers of the court and the tribunal’s obligation to ensure that proceedings are conducted fairly.

Fairness to the claimant remains important. Tribunals often make reasonable adjustments for disabled claimants, although they will also consider the impact of those adjustments on the other parties and on the efficient conduct of proceedings. In Hancox, the EAT accepted that the claimant’s mental health had influenced aspects of his correspondence and litigation conduct. However, it confirmed that tribunals are still entitled to take proportionate steps to protect other parties and their own resources.

Your use of AI tools

We also recommend exercising caution in how AI is used within your own organisation.

You should avoid uploading legal advice into public AI tools without appropriate safeguards. Doing so may risk compromising confidentiality and legal professional privilege. The Upper Tribunal has held that uploading confidential documents to ChatGPT places them in the public domain.

Similarly, managers likely to give evidence should not use AI tools to prepare. The Court of Appeal has warned that this raises fairness issues.

Costs are another practical consideration. AI-generated claims and correspondence are often lengthy and repetitive, which can increase the time we need to review the material. Where a claimant’s use of AI generates disproportionate documentation or procedural inefficiencies, we can advise whether it is appropriate to seek case management directions from the tribunal to keep the proceedings focused and proportionate.

Contact our employment law solicitors today

If you have any questions or concerns about the updates provided above, please contact a member of our Employment Law team. You can use our online enquiry form or call 0330 191 5713.