How Some Law Schools Are Training Students In Generative AI

ABA Journal, Class Is in Session: How Some Law Schools Are Training Students in Generative AI:

After initially taking a more skeptical approach following the introduction of ChatGPT in 2022, law schools are warming up to using artificial intelligence in curriculum and clinics.

As more AI software is made available to law schools and students, the moment of law schools watching and waiting is over. More options are emerging for AI coursework that not only examines the ethical uses of AI but also offers hands-on experiences that range from practicing contract negotiations and court appearances via AI-generated simulators to developing systems to handle divorce and end-of-life documents in legal clinics.

“Now is when the rubber meets the road,” says Daniel W. Linna, the law and technology initiatives director at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. “We’ve got to take some of these experiments and turn them into substantive changes in our courses; our curricula; and, in the case of clinics and legal services delivery, real tools with measurable results.”

The stakes for aspiring lawyers are high. As AI handles much of the work young associates do, the pressure is on to train future lawyers to quickly level up, says Megan Ma, executive director of Stanford Law School’s Legal Innovation through Frontier Technology Lab.

“How do we get them to the level of a senior lawyer and learn the skills of issue-spotting?” she asks.

At many law schools, the answer is offering more AI-centric opportunities. Last year, 55% of schools responding to the ABA Task Force on Law and Artificial Intelligence’s AI and Legal Education Survey reported having classes dedicated to AI; 32% offered formal opportunities to use AI via interdisciplinary arrangements with their university; and 83% reported opportunities, like clinics, where students could learn to use AI tools. The survey was sent to 200 law school deans via email, and 29 deans or faculty members responded.

Law Schools featured in the remainder of the article:

• Case Western
• George Washington
• Miami
• Suffolk
• Vanderbilt
• Washington University

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