The Paris Bar is launching its “IA Academy,” a free training program for Paris-based lawyers. The first session is scheduled for November.
The initiative addresses challenges described by leaders of the profession.
According to several examples cited by AFP, clients arrive with AI-generated analyses and sometimes credit them more than to their lawyer.
Bar association president Louis Degos also mentions “hallucinations” in lawyers’ conclusions, with “a few cases” brought to him. François Girault, of the National Bar Council (CNB), notes a rise in sanctions, though presently lenient. He also observes a recruitment “somewhat stalled,” as the tasks of junior associates can be entrusted to AI.
The gap between firms fuels another concern. According to CNB’s May 2025 survey, 57% of solo practitioners use AI, versus 86% in firms with more than 100 lawyers. Louis Degos downplays this, estimating that smaller outfits have access to affordable subscriptions.
In response to this reality, the Bar adopted, in July, a model AI-use charter, made available to all firms. The document is non-binding, and each firm can adapt it. It recalls in particular that an unvalidated tool cannot receive information covered by professional secrecy, and that the lawyer remains solely responsible for the content produced with AI. It makes training a prerequisite for access to the tools.
In July, the Paris Bar announced a training program for the weeks ahead.
That has been done. Each one-day session includes an overview of the tools, followed by a three-hour workshop on creating AI agents.
Participants will also leave with a library of prompts to extend practical use in their practice. The training is free and validated as continuing education.
According to AFP, it emphasizes anonymization, data protection, and digital sovereignty. The whole fits within the “Towards a Sovereign Bar” strategy presented to the Bar Council on May 19.
The Bar does not specify how it will guarantee the independence of the tools landscape.
