- At Fordham Law (New York), 375 first-year students were required to analyze two summaries of rapper Drake’s defamation case – one written by a professor, one generated by ChatGPT. This was part of a mandatory AI orientation, marking a turning point in legal education.
- At least 8 US law schools have officially integrated AI into their mandatory curriculum, rather than it being just an elective or isolated faculty experiment as before.
- Dean Stacy Leeds (Arizona State University) emphasized: future lawyers will find it difficult to be “competent” without a foundational knowledge of AI and the ability to adapt quickly to new technologies.
- The courses not only focus on how to use generative AI but also on risks such as misinformation, “hallucinations,” or oversimplified legal reasoning.
- Quinnipiac University School of Law launched a mandatory 1-credit AI course, reflecting demand from law firms, where students are increasingly expected to have an understanding of AI to increase their “job readiness.”
- Major law firms like Ropes & Gray and Cleary Gottlieb do not yet consider AI a prerequisite for recruitment but highly value students receiving early training.
- Dean Brian Gallini (Quinnipiac) stated that employers want candidates with practical experience using AI tools, rather than being completely unfamiliar with them.
- Some law schools have incorporated AI into mandatory legal writing and research courses, including Suffolk University, Washington University in St. Louis, and the University of San Francisco.
- The curriculum includes how generative models work, the difference between ChatGPT and specialized legal AI tools, the importance of verifying output, and prompt writing skills.
- Student Dorothea Bowerfind (Case Western) shared that the mandatory course helped her understand the technology many of her classmates had been using since undergraduate studies, making her more confident in applying it.
- Dean Andrew Perlman (Suffolk) emphasized that the goal is not to teach the use of a specific model, but to help students think about how AI can shape legal services to be “faster, cheaper, better.”
📌 At least 8 US law schools have officially integrated AI into their mandatory curriculum. These programs focus on both developing application skills (prompting, output analysis) and highlighting risks such as false information and professional responsibility. Although law firms do not yet have absolute requirements, early training helps students gain a competitive edge and be ready for the rapidly digitizing legal market.
