According to the AI and Legal Education Survey by the American Bar Association, more than half of law schools (55%) offer classes dedicated to teaching students about AI. An overwhelming majority (83%) also reported offering curricular opportunities where students can learn to use legal AI tools effectively.
With generative AI shaping legal education and practice, tech fluency has become a necessity for today's law students. Furthermore, a lawyer's value will increasingly come not just from their knowledge of the law and AI usage, but from their ability to apply human judgment, ethical reasoning, and tech-driven efficiency to their practice.
This article will explore the growing presence of AI in law education and the specific ways students use it to prepare for a tech-driven legal career.
Why AI is becoming essential in law school
Generative AI is not only reshaping the legal field, but it’s changing the law school experience too. The core values of legal education remain the same, but the methods for achieving them have evolved. AI can speed up otherwise time-consuming and tedious tasks, allowing students to focus on developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills. It has also fundamentally changed how they perform their studies, aiding in everything from research and writing to understanding complex legal ethics.
Beyond school, AI is becoming a common fixture across all legal careers and practice areas, from corporate law to litigation. Professionals are adopting these tools to improve efficiency and gain a competitive advantage. For this reason, mastering AI is no longer optional for law students; it's a vital skill for a prosperous future in law.
From law student to legal innovator
The skills learned in law school AI courses can be the foundation for a successful legal career. Students now are at the forefront of AI's integration into legal workflows, encouraging educators and firm owners to adopt AI practices.
One example comes from Bennett Houck, a third-year law student at Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. After being instructed not to use AI tools in a summer program, he met with the Chief Information Officer at the firm where he was interning to see how they were using AI at the firm. Pleased with the answer, Houck was able to apply his tech skills during his time with the firm.
Stories like this illustrate a broader trend of students using their legal AI education to question existing processes and workflows. The goal? To increase efficiency, drive better outcomes for clients, and make leveraging legal AI technology the new normal.
Key types of AI in legal tech
To understand how to use AI in law, it's essential to first differentiate between the types of AI being used in the legal tech space:
Extractive AI focuses on identifying and extracting key information from large datasets. For example, a tool that scans a lengthy contract to pull out all the dates, parties, and key terms.
Generative AI creates new content in response to prompts. For a law student, this might involve using it to draft a memo or extract key points from a complex case file.
Agentic AI performs actions on behalf of a user. An example might be an AI tool that not only drafts an email but also sends it to the appropriate client.
These different types of AI support various law student workflows, from basic legal research to automation. To learn more about these differences, see our article comparing AI vs. generative AI.
When it comes to the tools for improving their workflows, these are the most common applications of AI for law students:
Legal research assistants: AI legal research tools like Lexis+ AI help locate cases, statutes, and secondary sources faster.
Document drafting tools: These assist with writing memos, contracts, and briefs, significantly speeding up the drafting process. For example, tools that help with AI for legal contracts are becoming increasingly sophisticated.
Citation and proofreading tools: These tools improve legal writing quality and ensure accuracy.
Summarization and outlining tools: AI-powered summarizers condense lengthy case law or statutes into digestible points.
Legal chatbots and intake automation: AI chatbots for lawyers can automate tasks through simulated conversations or gather client data to expedite the initial client intake process.
Contract review and analysis tools: Legal AI tools in this category highlight risks, missing clauses, or key language in agreements, allowing students and professionals to review documents more efficiently.
How law students are integrating AI into legal education
The next generation of lawyers is preparing for a world where AI is a standard tool. Here's a look at how they're mastering it in their studies now to shape the future of the legal profession.
Using AI for legal research
AI is transforming one of the most tedious parts of a law student's workload: legal research. Instead of manually sifting through databases, students can now use AI to interact with legal material. This allows them to quickly generate case summaries, identify key legal issues, and find relevant citations. The process is now faster, freeing up more time for the critical analysis that truly strengthens their arguments and wins cases.
Drafting and summarizing with AI
The use of AI for legal documents has fundamentally changed the drafting workflow for law students. Instead of starting from scratch, they now use AI to quickly generate drafts of memos and briefs. This allows them to bypass the labor-intensive process of organizing initial thoughts and move directly to the more critical work of refining the text.
The new workflow isn't about letting AI do the work, but about becoming a more effective legal editor. This requires students to develop a new skill: critically reviewing and editing AI-generated drafts for accuracy and legal soundness. The key to mastering this process is knowing when to trust the output and when to question it, ensuring the final work is both legally sound and their own.
Building legal AI tools in school
Some forward-thinking law programs encourage a learn-by-building approach. Instead of using existing tools, students in these programs build their own chatbots and AI assistants to solve real legal problems. This hands-on experience provides a deeper understanding of the technology and its potential applications in the legal field. It’s also a prime example of how law school AI programs are preparing students to be leaders and innovators.
Finally, these developments spark the question: Will AI make lawyers obsolete? While AI can automate many routine tasks, it cannot replace the uniquely human skills of empathy, ethical judgment, and thoughtful counsel. Instead, it’s a powerful co-pilot, allowing students and lawyers alike to focus on what matters most—their practice and clients.
Developing legal ethics and judgment through AI
As AI becomes more integrated into legal education and practice, law students must learn how to question, verify, and apply it in line with professional standards.
Learning responsible AI use
The ethical considerations surrounding AI are significant and cannot be ignored. Students must be aware of issues like client data privacy, the unauthorized practice of law, and the potential for AI "hallucinations."
AI hallucinations occur when an AI model generates false or fabricated information, like a fake legal citation or precedent, and presents it as fact. Therefore, it is crucial to always verify its output against reliable legal sources.
Before relying on an AI tool, law students should always ask key questions, such as where the tool gets its data, how to verify its information, and whether using it violates client confidentiality. To learn more about this topic, you can read about the principles of ethical AI for lawyers.
What schools and bar associations are recommending
Many schools and bar associations are starting to provide guidance on the use of AI in law practice. For example, the American Bar Association (ABA) has issued Formal Opinion 512, its first formal ethics guidance covering the use of generative AI tools. This opinion underscores that lawyers must uphold core ethical obligations—including competence, confidentiality, and communication—even when leveraging AI.
The ABA emphasizes that lawyers have a duty to understand the technology's benefits and risks, protect client data, and ensure that any AI-generated work is thoroughly reviewed for accuracy. These recommendations are crucial to a law student's education and future career as a practicing lawyer.
8am MyCase is here to support your AI journey
As you tackle the dynamics of a changing legal practice, MyCase is here to support you every step of the way. MyCase is a forward-thinking legal practice management solution that is committed to innovation and helping legal professionals adopt smarter, more efficient workflows. Our tools are designed to help you manage your practice more effectively. Our legal document AI feature is just one example of how we help you turn time-consuming document analysis into a fast, automated process, allowing you to be more productive.
Whether you're just starting your legal education or are a seasoned practitioner, MyCase is your trusted ally. We invite you to explore MyCase to see how it can be a valuable solution in your legal tech journey.
Ready to learn how MyCase can help you stay ahead in the AI-driven future? Book a demo today or sign up to get started right away.
About the author
Justin FisherContent Writer
Justin Fisher is a content writer and SEO strategist for leading legal software companies, including MyCase, Docketwise, and CASEpeer, as well as LawPay, the #1 legal payment processor. He specializes in writing about emerging legal technology, financial wellness for law firms, and more.