AI Transparency Statement

1. Introduction

YourLegalLadder ("we", "us", "our", or "the Service") uses artificial intelligence (AI) technologies as a core part of our platform. We are committed to being transparent about how we use AI, what data is processed by AI systems, and the limitations of AI-generated content. This AI Transparency Statement should be read alongside our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

2. How We Use AI

YourLegalLadder uses AI technologies, including large language models (LLMs), to power the following features:

• Application Outlines: AI generates suggested outlines and drafts for Training Contract application questions based on your evidence items, writing samples, and the specific firm and question context
• Firm Intelligence: AI assists in extracting, summarising, and presenting information about law firms from publicly available sources
• Commercial Awareness Briefings: AI curates, analyses, and summarises legal news and commercial developments from RSS feeds and public sources
• Study Resources: AI assists in generating educational content, study notes, and practice questions for SQE preparation
• Content Generation: AI powers the generation of SEO content, resource pages, and educational materials published on our platform
• Personalisation: AI helps tailor suggestions and recommendations based on your profile, preferences, and usage patterns

3. AI-Generated Content Disclaimer

Much of the content on YourLegalLadder is generated or assisted by AI. This includes, but is not limited to, application outlines, firm summaries, commercial awareness briefings, study materials, and resource pages.

While we take reasonable steps to review and validate AI-generated content, you should be aware of the following:

• AI can produce errors: AI-generated content may contain factual inaccuracies, outdated information, or incomplete analysis. You should always verify important information independently
• AI is not legal advice: Nothing produced by our AI systems constitutes legal advice, career counselling, or professional guidance. The Service is for educational and informational purposes only
• AI outputs are suggestions: Application outlines and drafts are starting points only. You are solely responsible for the content of any application you submit to a law firm
• AI reflects training data: AI models are trained on data with a knowledge cutoff date and may not reflect the most current information, legal developments, or firm-specific changes
• AI may hallucinate: AI systems can sometimes generate plausible-sounding but incorrect information. Critical details about firms, deadlines, or legal concepts should always be cross-referenced

4. Your Data and AI Processing

When you use AI-powered features on YourLegalLadder, certain data is processed by AI systems. We want you to understand exactly what happens:

4.1 What Data Is Sent to AI Systems

• Evidence items: Your competency examples and experiences that you input into the platform
• Writing samples: Text you provide to help the AI match your writing style
• Application context: The specific firm, question, and word count for which you are generating an outline
• Profile preferences: Your selected practice areas, career stage, and other profile information relevant to personalisation

4.2 Third-Party AI Providers

We use third-party AI providers to power our AI features. When your data is processed by these providers:

• Data is transmitted securely using industry-standard encryption (TLS/SSL)
• We use API-based access where, under the provider's terms, your data is not used to train or improve their AI models
• Data is processed in accordance with our data processing agreements with these providers
• We do not share your personal identity (name, email) with AI providers, only the content necessary to generate outputs

4.3 Data Retention by AI Providers

Under our agreements with AI providers, input and output data may be temporarily retained by the provider for abuse monitoring and safety purposes (typically up to 30 days), after which it is deleted. This data is not used for model training.

4.4 Our Training Contract Application Dataset

A number of our Training Contract features, in particular the TC Application Copilot and the TC Rejection Reviewer, rely on a curated dataset of both successful and unsuccessful 2026 Training Contract applications submitted to UK law firms, including Anthony Collins, Weightmans, and CMS. We name the firms and the year openly so you can see what the model has learned from.

The dataset is governed by the following safeguards:

• Contributor consent: the dataset was contributed by individual applicants with their explicit, informed consent for it to be used to train the AI features of YourLegalLadder.
• Anonymisation: personal and identifying information is removed before training. Names, contact details, university details, dates of birth, and other directly-identifying personal data are stripped; the model does not learn associations between an answer and any specific person.
• No attribution back to applicants: outputs from the model do not, and cannot, identify the original applicant whose answer informed a given pattern.
• No firm endorsement: none of the firms named (Anthony Collins, Weightmans, CMS, or any other firm referenced in the dataset) endorse, sponsor, or are otherwise affiliated with YourLegalLadder. The dataset was provided by individual applicants, not by the firms themselves.
• Purpose-limited use: we use the dataset only to power AI features that help future applicants; we do not sell, license, or redistribute it.

If you contributed an application to our dataset and would like it removed, please email help@yourlegalladder.com. Because the data is anonymised before training we cannot always identify a specific contributor's submission within the model itself; however we can remove the underlying source record from our dataset and exclude it from any future re-training.

5. Human Oversight

We maintain human oversight of our AI systems in the following ways:

• Content review: Published content such as commercial awareness briefings undergoes an editorial review process before being made publicly available
• Quality monitoring: We regularly assess the quality and accuracy of AI-generated outputs
• Feedback mechanisms: Users can report inaccurate or problematic AI-generated content
• System prompts: AI systems are guided by carefully designed prompts and constraints to promote accuracy and relevance

6. Limitations of AI

We believe in being honest about what AI can and cannot do. Our AI systems:

• Cannot guarantee outcomes: Using AI-generated outlines does not guarantee a successful application, interview, or Training Contract offer
• Cannot replace professional advice: AI outputs are not a substitute for advice from qualified legal professionals, career advisers, or academic tutors
• May produce biased content: AI models can reflect biases present in their training data. We work to mitigate this but cannot eliminate it entirely
• Have knowledge limitations: AI models have a training data cutoff and may not be aware of recent events, firm changes, or legal developments
• Cannot verify their own accuracy: AI systems may present incorrect information with high confidence. Always apply your own judgement

7. Your Rights Regarding AI Processing

In addition to the rights set out in our Privacy Policy, you have the following rights in relation to AI processing:

• Right to know: You have the right to know when you are interacting with AI-generated content
• Right to human review: If an AI-assisted decision materially affects your use of the Service, you can request human review
• Right to object: Under UK GDPR, you have the right to object to automated processing of your personal data
• Right to data deletion: You can request deletion of your data, including data that has been processed by AI systems, as described in our Privacy Policy

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at help@yourlegalladder.com.

8. Your Responsibilities

When using AI-powered features on YourLegalLadder, you agree to:

• Review all AI outputs: You are responsible for reviewing, editing, and taking ownership of any AI-generated content before using it in applications or elsewhere
• Verify factual claims: You should independently verify any factual information, statistics, or claims produced by AI
• Not misrepresent AI content: You should not present AI-generated content as entirely your own work where doing so would violate the policies of the institution or organisation to which you are applying
• Use AI ethically: You must not use AI features to generate misleading, fraudulent, or dishonest application content

9. UK AI Regulation Compliance

We are committed to complying with the UK's approach to AI governance, including the principles set out by the UK government and relevant regulators:

• Safety, security, and robustness: We implement safeguards to ensure AI systems operate reliably and securely
• Transparency and explainability: This statement, together with our other policies, explains how AI is used on our platform
• Fairness: We work to ensure AI outputs do not unfairly discriminate against any user or group
• Accountability and governance: We maintain responsibility for the AI systems deployed on our platform
• Contestability and redress: Users can challenge AI-related decisions and request human review

Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA). Because our AI processing involves profiling that could materially affect users' career outcomes, we maintain a DPIA under UK GDPR Article 35 covering the AI features described in this statement. The DPIA records the purposes and lawful basis for our AI processing, the risks we have identified, and the technical and organisational measures we apply to mitigate them. The DPIA is an internal document, but a summary of its key conclusions is reflected in this AI Transparency Statement and the full document is available to the Information Commissioner's Office and other supervisory authorities on request. If you would like a copy of the summary, please email help@yourlegalladder.com.

10. Changes to This Statement

We may update this AI Transparency Statement from time to time to reflect changes in our AI practices, technology, or legal requirements. Material changes will be notified via email or through a prominent notice on the Service. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this page indicates when this statement was last revised.

Your continued use of the Service after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated statement.

11. Contact Information

If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback regarding our use of AI, please contact us at:

Email: help@yourlegalladder.com