A law firm can license some of its records to AI companies, but client confidentiality rules come first, and the buyers that ask for law firm files want closed matters with client consent or full anonymization. In England and Wales SRA Code of Conduct for Firms 6.3 binds the firm, and in Germany StGB s.203 makes disclosure of client secrets a criminal offense.
Mercor states a deal range of USD 50,000 to 1,250,000 per company for its Law Firm listing, checked 2026-11-10. Law firm files are one of the sector records in AI training data licensing.
DataPacts Editorial Team checked the buyer pages, rules and court records cited here on 2026-11-09 and 2026-11-10, following how we source, date and check every figure.
What AI Buyers and Intermediaries Ask Law Firms For
Ten programs and intermediaries name law firms or legal records on their own pages, and they split into buyers that want complete closed matter files, buyers that want the firm's own workflows, and intermediaries, some of which exclude law firms. The table compares what each party states about law firms, as of 2026-11-10, in alphabetical order; each value is the party's own statement, checked 2026-11-09 unless marked.
| Program | Role | What it asks law firms for, or excludes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| AfterQuery Data Partnerships | B | business records; "privileged legal material" never used; re-identification test before delivery | afterquery.com/data-partnerships |
| Data Licensing Advisors | I | not accounting, legal or healthcare organizations | datalicensingadvisors.com |
| Handshake AI Data Partnerships | B | legal research workflows, process documentation, reusable templates | joinhandshake.com/ai/data-partnerships |
| HUMXN | B (marketplace) | law firms among 24 named industries; records not stated | humxn.io/sell-company-data |
| Marin Data | I | records across several workplace tools; some law firms under 20 employees may qualify | marindata.ai |
| Mercor Law Firm listing | B | complete files from closed matters or completed transactions; 500+ documents; client consent or fully anonymizable; tools Relativity, Everlaw, iManage, NetDocuments, Clio; re-checked 2026-11-10 | api.data.mercor.com listings /law-firm |
| Mercor program page | B | legal first among 8 target industries | mercor.com/data |
| micro1 Company Data Partnerships | B | legal records among software, finance, support, sales and operations records; contracts, policies, compliance procedures | micro1.ai/data-partnerships |
| Mode | B | legal named with its own headcount threshold; home page re-read 2026-11-10 | data.mode.inc |
| Regulr sell-side advisory | I | excludes law-firm client files, privileged communications, client tax returns, third-party licensed data | regulr.ai |
B = buyer or licensee program; I = intermediary that introduces or advises and does not acquire data. "Not stated" does not mean allowed.
An intermediary is not a buyer: Marin Data states that it is paid by the AI lab, and Regulr states that it has not yet closed a data deal.
Closed Matter Files Versus the Firm's Own Know-How
Two kinds of law firm records reach buyers: client matter files, which belong to the client relationship and need consent or anonymization, and the firm's own templates, research workflows and process documents. Mercor asks for the first kind, and Handshake AI states that it wants "Research workflows, process documentation, reusable templates" for legal.
The firm's own documents raise an ownership question first. Under 17 U.S.C. 201(b) the employer is the author of a work made by an employee within the scope of employment and owns all rights unless a signed written instrument says otherwise, and CDPA 1988 s.11(2) gives an employer the same first ownership in the United Kingdom, subject to any agreement to the contrary. A rights audit separates firm-owned documents from client and contractor material.
Legal Text Licensing in the Third Circuit's ROSS Opinion
The Third Circuit held on 2026-09-29 that 2,243 Westlaw headnotes are copyrightable and that ROSS Intelligence's use of them to train a non-generative legal search tool was not fair use (No. 25-2153).
The court wrote that "the market for licensing headnotes as text to train AI is rapidly developing". ROSS's petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc, Doc. 225 dated 2026-11-03, was pending as of 2026-11-09, and the data-type view sits with legal documents and case files as AI training data.
Client Confidentiality and Professional Secrecy Come Before Any License
A law firm's confidentiality duty binds it before any license term does, and a buyer's contract cannot release it. The table records the England and Wales and German rules as of 2026-11-09; rules for US lawyers and other jurisdictions are not yet summarized on this page.
| Jurisdiction | Rule | What it requires | In force or version | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | SRA Code of Conduct for Firms 6.3 | keep current and former clients' affairs confidential unless disclosure is required or permitted by law or the client consents | version in effect from 2025-04-11 | sra.org.uk |
| England and Wales | SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors 5.1 | inform clients of any financial interest in a referral; no referral payments for clients in criminal proceedings, 5.1(d) | version in effect from 2025-04-11 | sra.org.uk |
| Germany | StGB s.203 | criminal secrecy for lawyers and other professions; up to one year or a fine; up to two years or a fine for remuneration or enrichment, s.203(6); prosecuted only on request, s.205(1) | in force | gesetze-im-internet.de |
England and Wales: SRA Code of Conduct for Firms 6.3
SRA Code of Conduct for Firms 6.3 requires a firm to keep the affairs of current and former clients confidential unless disclosure is required or permitted by law or the client consents. The SRA Board made the version in effect from 2025-04-11 on 2024-12-16.
The rule covers former clients, so closed matters sit inside it.
Germany: StGB Section 203 and Prosecution on Request
Germany makes the disclosure of a client's secrets by a lawyer a criminal offense under StGB s.203, punishable by up to one year or a fine. The section covers lawyers alongside physicians, CPAs, auditors and tax consultants.
Under s.203(6) the penalty rises to up to two years or a fine where the offender acts for remuneration or with intent to enrich himself or another or to harm another. Under s.205(1) the offense is prosecuted only upon request.
Solicitors Who Introduce Clients to Data Buyers: SRA Code 5.1
A solicitor who refers a client to a data buyer must tell the client about any financial interest in the referral, under SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors para. 5.1. Para. 5.1(d) bars referral payments in respect of clients who are subject to criminal proceedings.
Mercor states a referral base of USD 75,000 for its Law Firm listing, plus a USD 10,000 fast-signing booster, checked 2026-11-09. Mercor's program page states that a referral bonus is paid when the referred company goes live, without naming an amount, and the referral programs of AI data buyers set out who is paid and when.
Privilege and Active Matters: Where Buyers Draw the Line
Buyers and intermediaries that state a rule on privileged material exclude it, and Mercor also excludes active matters and single filings without the rest of the file. Three parties state a rule, each in its own words:
- AfterQuery states that payroll, privileged legal material and credentials are never used (checked 2026-11-09).
- Mercor's "not a fit" list names active matters and privileged material clients won't release (re-read 2026-11-10).
- Regulr, an intermediary, excludes law-firm client files and privileged communications from its advisory (checked 2026-11-09).
The court-supervised Spirit Airlines sale shows how a transaction handles privilege. Its Form of Bill of Sale, Dkt. 1463 in Bankr. S.D.N.Y. No. 25-11897, excludes privileged materials and requires their return or destruction if they are transferred. The sale was not approved as of 2026-11-09, with the hearing adjourned to 2026-11-17 (Dkt. 1779).
This page does not state how privilege is affected when privileged documents reach a buyer; the firm decides that with its own counsel. Privilege sits beside the other categories of company data that cannot be licensed.
Client Consent or Full Anonymization: The Two Routes for Matter Files
Mercor's Law Firm listing accepts matter files on one of two conditions: the client consents, or the documents can be fully anonymized (checked 2026-11-10).
The consent route follows the confidentiality rule itself: SRA Code 6.3 lets disclosure proceed where the client consents, so the consent has to come from each client whose file is included.
The anonymization route has two stated parts. Mercor states that it covers extraction, anonymization and transfer, and AfterQuery states that it runs a re-identification test before delivery and that "no process removes all risk on its own". The methods are set out in de-identification before licensing data.
A firm's files also hold the data of opposing parties, witnesses and staff, whose protection remains the firm's obligation. The Spirit Form of Bill of Sale states one standard: data de-identified to the CCPA standard first.
For EU firms, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 applies from 2018-05-25 (Art. 99(2)); the legal basis rules are set out under GDPR and AI training data.
Firm Size Thresholds and Stated Ranges for Law Firms
Buyers set different minimum sizes for law firms, from Mercor's band starting at 5 attorneys and staff to micro1's 30 full-time employees, and one intermediary does not take legal organizations at all. Each party states its own threshold, alphabetically:
- Handshake AI: the Data Partnerships page states no minimum, while the license and referral pages state 20+ full-time employees and 3+ years (checked 2026-11-09).
- Marin Data (intermediary): states that most AI labs look for 20+ employees and 3+ years, and that some law firms under 20 employees may qualify (checked 2026-11-09).
- Mercor: states 5-300 attorneys and staff, United States preferred (re-read 2026-11-10).
- micro1: states "established companies with 30+ full-time employees", United States prioritized (checked 2026-11-09).
- Mode: its home page states 30+ employees, 10+ for accounting, finance and medical, and 6+ for legal (re-read 2026-11-10); its referral page states 10+ for legal, and its Affiliate Referral Agreement states 15 for legal, accounting, medical, banking and financial (checked 2026-11-09).
Mercor states a range of USD 50,000 to 1,250,000 per company, "Depends on matter size and completeness", with the listing published on 2026-10-17. The figure is a claim on a listing, not an offer to a specific firm. Data Licensing Advisors, an intermediary, excludes legal organizations altogether (checked 2026-11-09). Every program's payouts and program terms compared are dated on one page.
Benefits, Risks, Downsides and Alternatives for a Law Firm
Licensing gives a law firm a new use for closed files and its own know-how, but it carries confidentiality, privilege and security risks that a fee does not offset, and not licensing is a valid outcome.
Benefits
- Income from records the firm already holds, as a buyer's claim and not a promise (Mercor's stated range above).
- Firm-owned templates and workflows need no client consent once ownership is confirmed.
Risks
- Breach of the secrecy rule: SRA Code 6.3 for firms in England and Wales, and StGB s.203 and s.203(6) in Germany.
- Privilege: material that clients will not release is out for Mercor.
- Buyer security: Mercor's filing with the California Attorney General gives breach dates of 2026-03-24 and 2026-03-30 after unauthorized access via compromised LiteLLM versions, and In re Mercor.io Corporation Data Breach Litigation, N.D. Cal. Lead Case No. 3:26-cv-02821-WHO, is the lead docket.
Downsides
- A license can be impossible to withdraw: micro1's Data License Master Terms s.1.2 state a worldwide, nonexclusive, irrevocable, perpetual license, and s.4.4 sets no duty to retrain Licensee Materials (last updated 2026-11-08).
- Obtaining consent from each client takes time.
Alternatives
- License only firm-owned material, such as templates and workflows.
- Keep the archive for in-house use.
- Not licensing at all, covered under alternatives to selling data, including not selling at all.
Where Law Firm Licensing Meets the Seller Path, the Law and Other Industries
Law firms share client secrecy with accountants and medical practices, and the industry pages set out how each profession's rule differs. A law firm is one sector in data licensing by industry; see accounting and tax firms licensing data and medical practices licensing data, and consulting firms licensing client deliverables for advisers.
Secrecy rules differ by country, as the map of AI training data law by jurisdiction shows, and staff email in firm systems falls under employee data and AI training rules.
- Check data sale readiness.
- Decide whether to sell or license the data.
- Choose a buyer for the data.
- Evaluate an offer for the data.
- Negotiate the clauses of AI data licensing agreements.
This page is information, not legal advice.
Buyer, Intermediary, Case and Law Pages Named on This Page
Each buyer, intermediary, case and rule above has or will have its own page with dates and sources.
- Buyers and intermediaries: AfterQuery, Data Licensing Advisors, Handshake AI data buyer profile, HUMXN, Marin Data, Mercor data buyer profile, micro1 data buyer profile, Mode, Regulr.
- Cases, deals, laws and systems: Clio data export and licensing, Germany: rules for licensing data, Spirit Airlines' data archive sale, Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence, United Kingdom: rules for licensing data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a law firm sell client files to AI companies?
Only where the firm's confidentiality rule allows it, which in practice means client consent or full anonymization, the two conditions Mercor's Law Firm listing states, checked 2026-11-10. SRA Code 6.3 and StGB s.203 apply first.
How much do AI companies pay law firms for data?
No law firm price is published by a firm or a court; Mercor states a range of USD 50,000 to 1,250,000 per company, depending on matter size and completeness, checked 2026-11-10.
Valuation methods are set out under what company data is worth to AI companies.
Can lawyers earn money from AI training work?
Individual lawyers can do paid expert evaluation work for human-data platforms, a separate route from licensing the firm's records.
The field is covered under expert contributor work by field.