By Kayode Lawrence-Omole
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When AI Walks into the Courtroom
Not long ago, Artificial Intelligence (AI) felt like an abstract concept, confined to science fiction. Today, it is in our pockets, offices, and courtrooms, often without us realising it. At the centre of this surge is ChatGPT, an AI-powered language model that can answer questions, draft contracts, write arguments, and even simulate conversations with surprising accuracy.
Globally, ChatGPT has sparked heated debate: Is it the beginning of a new era of smarter legal practice, or a threat to lawyers, judges, and the very integrity of justice? Nigeria cannot afford to sit out of this conversation. With a fast-growing legal services sector, an increasingly digital economy, and citizens seeking more affordable access to justice, the arrival of ChatGPT presents both disruption and opportunity.
The question is not whether AI will affect the Nigerian legal system. The real question is how stakeholders will respond: with denial, cautious regulation, or bold innovation.
The Disruptor: Risks Lawyers Cannot Ignore
For all its promise, ChatGPT raises serious risks that Nigerian lawyers and judges must grapple with. If ignored, these risks could erode trust in the legal system rather than strengthen it.
- Truth or Trap?
ChatGPT generates responses that sound authoritative; even when they are false. Known as “AI hallucinations,” these fabricated references or case citations have already embarrassed lawyers in the United States who filed briefs filled with non-existent cases generated by ChatGPT. In a Nigerian court system where accuracy is paramount and credibility is currency, this risk cannot be overlooked.
- Ethics on the Line
Lawyers owe their clients confidentiality and fiduciary responsibility. Feeding sensitive case details into ChatGPT, without clarity on where the data is stored or how it may be reused, creates a minefield. Who owns the AI-generated draft? Could confidential data resurface in another query by a different user? Nigerian ethical codes for lawyers do not yet provide clear answers.
- Who Gets Replaced?
Perhaps the most unsettling risk is economic. Entry-level lawyers, paralegals, and interns traditionally spend hours on research, drafting, and due diligence. These are the very tasks AI excels at. If firms can accomplish in minutes what juniors do in weeks, the incentive to hire young lawyers weakens. Without reform, AI could worsen unemployment in a profession already saturated with graduates.
- Regulatory Blind Spots
Nigeria’s legal framework has yet to reckon with AI. Neither the Legal Practitioners Act, nor the Rules of Professional Conduct, nor court procedural rules contemplate lawyers outsourcing part of their work to algorithms. Without guidance, firms and individuals are left to improvise; an approach that risks inconsistency and malpractice.
The Opportunity: A Smarter Way to Practice Law
But disruption cuts both ways. If used responsibly, ChatGPT can transform the Nigerian legal profession from slow and inaccessible to fast, affordable, and innovative.
- Time-Saving Tools
Research that once took hours in law libraries can now be condensed into minutes. Draft contracts, memos, or pleadings can be produced quickly, giving lawyers more time to refine arguments and engage strategically with clients.
- Justice for More People
Millions of Nigerians cannot afford lawyers. ChatGPT, when deployed responsibly, can provide basic legal information, help citizens understand their rights, and guide them toward proper legal channels. This does not replace lawyers, but it does narrow the justice gap.
- Augment, Do Not Replace
The key insight is that ChatGPT works best as a co-pilot, not a substitute. Lawyers who treat it as a first draft generator, rather than a final authority, stand to benefit most. It is a tool to streamline workflows, not a replacement for human judgment, advocacy, or ethics.
- Modernising the System
For courts and regulators, ChatGPT offers an opportunity to modernise legal practice itself. AI-assisted case management could reduce backlogs, digitalise court records, and help judges sift through complex precedents more efficiently. Nigeria’s judiciary, already burdened by delays, could benefit from careful, ethical integration.
The Regulatory Gap (and Why It Matters)
Nigeria has taken a first step into the AI-and-law conversation. In 2024, the NBA’s Section on Legal Practice released Guidelines for the Use of AI in the Nigerian Legal Profession. These touch on competence, confidentiality, disclosure, and supervision. A good start, but they remain guidelines, not binding rules. Courts, regulators, and even many firms are still figuring out how (or whether) to apply them.
So where is the gap?
- Courtroom practice: No clear rules yet on whether lawyers must disclose AI use in filings, or how to handle AI-generated citations, despite cases in other jurisdictions where “hallucinated” precedents have embarrassed lawyers.[1]
- Data & confidentiality: The NBA guidance urges caution, but there is no Nigeria-specific framework for how AI providers handle sensitive client data, especially when servers sit outside the country.
How are others handling this?
In the United States, the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Formal Opinion 512 (2024) frames GenAI within existing duties; competence, confidentiality, supervision, giving lawyers a clear checklist without inventing new rules.
Meanwhile, regulators in the United Kingdom lean on professional principles and expect firms to document how they assess AI risks. It is a “technology-neutral” approach that allows innovation but demands accountability.
The EU’s AI Act introduces a risk-based system, with stricter obligations for “high-risk” use cases, incorporating transparency and oversight. Nigerian firms working with EU clients will inevitably feel its ripple effects.
A Roadmap for Nigeria’s Legal Community
The arrival of ChatGPT demands a roadmap, not improvisation.
For Lawyers
- Develop firm-level policies on AI use.
- Train teams to fact-check, cross-reference, and avoid over-reliance on AI outputs.
- Guard client confidentiality by limiting what data is fed into AI systems.
- Position AI as an assistant, not a replacement.
For Regulators
- Issue practice guidelines on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in law.
- Clarify liability rules when AI-generated errors cause client harm.
- Explore certification for AI tools intended for legal use in Nigeria.
- Collaborate with the judiciary to pilot AI-supported case management systems.
For Faculties of Law and Law School
- Integrate AI literacy into the curriculum.
- Train students in both technical and ethical dimensions of legal-tech.
- Prepare students for a world where “AI plus lawyer” is the winning formula.
By taking these steps, Nigeria can manage risks while embracing opportunities.
Conclusion: Tool or Threat? The Choice Is Ours
ChatGPT is here, and it is not going away. For Nigeria’s legal system, the choice is clear: treat AI as a threat and risk being overwhelmed, or embrace it as a tool and reshape the future of justice. Left unchecked, AI could widen inequality, displace young lawyers, and burden courts with disputes that could have been prevented. But with deliberate planning, Nigeria can turn disruption into opportunity: employers embedding AI ethically into practice, regulators issuing clear guidance, and educators preparing the next generation to thrive.
Global experience shows that societies that anticipate disruption prosper, while those that defer responsibility struggle. Nigeria’s legal market cannot afford complacency. The real test is whether stakeholders will lead with foresight, or wait for disruption to dictate the rules.
In the end, ChatGPT will not decide Nigeria’s legal future. Lawyers, judges, regulators, and policymakers will. The window to act is narrow, but the opportunity is profound: to shape an AI-powered legal system that safeguards dignity, expands access, and secures justice, on Nigerian terms.
Key Contact:
Kayode Lawrence-Omole
Compliance and Risk Expert
Email: olukayode.lawrence-omole@dentons.com
Tel: +2348077771670
[1] See the South African case of Parker v Forsyth NNO and Others (1585/20) [2023] ZAGPRD 1 (29 June 2023) where the court reprimanded the plaintiff’s legal representatives for submitting fabricated legal authorities generated by ChatGPT without verifying their authenticity.
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