Live UK legal research with cited sources
Search legislation.gov.uk, SRA guidance, BAILII case law, and CPR rules in real time. Every answer is grounded in clickable, pinpointed citations.
How does AI legal research work for UK solicitors?
AI legal research retrieves current law and drafts an answer that cites it. Writford queries legislation.gov.uk, BAILII case law and SRA guidance live rather than from a cached snapshot, and every claim in the answer links to the source it came from.
- Where does Writford get its legal sources?
- Live from legislation.gov.uk, BAILII case law and SRA guidance at the moment you ask, rather than from a stored snapshot that may be months out of date.
- Is every claim cited?
- Yes. Each claim is backed by a pinpointed citation you can click through to the source, so a solicitor can verify the authority before relying on it.
- Do I pay for live retrieval on every question?
- No. Live retrieval is opt-in per question, so a quick conversational answer does not spend usage on searching sources you did not need.
- Can I rely on the answer without checking it?
- No, and Writford is built on that basis. Answers are designed for solicitor review, which is why the source is always one click away.
- Does the research stay with the matter?
- Yes. An answer can be saved to the matter with its sources intact, so the authority behind a piece of advice is still on the file later.
Current UK law, not a cached snapshot
Every Search turn fires live queries against legislation.gov.uk, SRA guidance, BAILII case law, CPR rules, and trusted legal web sources. Writford never serves a stale cached answer when you toggle you get the law as it stands right now.
- legislation.gov.uk, Acts, Statutory Instruments, amendments
- SRA Codes of Conduct, Accounts Rules, and guidance notes
- BAILII case law with judgment references
- Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and Practice Directions
- FCA rules and guidance for financial services matters
Every claim backed by a pinpointed citation
Unlike generic AI tools that hallucinate case names, Writford Search attaches a clickable reference to every legal proposition it makes. Click any citation to open the source document. Build skeleton arguments, attendance notes and research memos with confidence.
- Clickable inline citations open the source document directly
- Section and paragraph-level precision where available
- Citation format follows standard UK legal practice
- Clear confidence signalling when a source could not be retrieved
- Export research output with all citations intact (PDF or Word)
Pay for live retrieval only when you need it
Search is opt-in per turn via the toggle in the chat toolbar. Chat turns without Search active never spend usage on live retrieval, keeping everyday drafting and Q&A fast and economical. Use Search selectively for questions where citation accuracy matters.
- Toggle Search on or off per turn, no global setting to change
- Chat turns without Search spend nothing on retrieval
- Keyboard shortcut: Cmd / Ctrl + . for quick toggle
- Works with Extended Thinking mode for comprehensive research memos
- Matter-linked chats preserve research context alongside your files