Artificial intelligence tools have arrived.
Millions of people use them every day, and they shape the lived experience of nearly everyone—including those who would prefer to eschew the technology. Lawyers and law schools are no exception.
Here, Law Quadrangle examines how our faculty and students are navigating this new landscape and exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) may be incorporated into legal education and the profession.
From transforming legal research to expanding legal access to untangling doomerism, our faculty and students are grappling with what AI means for lawyers, law students, academics, and legal advocates.
AI and the Evolution of Law and Legal Education
How should we think about regulating AI in different contexts? How does the use of AI in medicine or autonomous vehicles, for example, affect liability doctrines?
What impact does AI have on the intellectual property system? How do privacy and transparency factor in?
In his seminar Artificial Intelligence and the Law, which he has taught three times since the Winter 2022 term, Nicholson Price helps students dive into discussions at the frontier of legal thought.
Michigan Law Students Get Hands-on with AI Tools
How do law students and lawyers develop AI skills without losing the critical thinking skills that are the intellectual foundation of every good lawyers?
AI Sandbox, a Law School class taught by Patrick Barry, a clinical assistant professor of law and director of digital academic initiatives, pushes his students to answer that question for themselves. He focuses his sandbox course on the hands-on use of various tools, from large language models like ChatGPT to text-to-image generators.
“The term we use in class is ‘mechanical sympathy,’” says Barry. “I want them to understand the strengths and limitations of these tools.”
New Michigan Law Clinic to Explore If AI Tools Can Broaden Legal Access
As directors of Michigan Law clinics focused on social justice, Professors Bridgette Carr, ’02, and Vivek Sankaran, ’01, are aware of a sobering truth: A staggering number of low-income Americans (92 percent) do not have access to legal help for their civil needs.
Both have dedicated their careers to finding ways to make the justice system accessible to people who have been left behind. Now, they’re looking to AI as an ally in the effort.
Mini-seminar Considers AI Doomerism and Technology Risk
Does artificial intelligence threaten humanity—or are we asking the wrong question?
In her mini-seminar, Assistant Professor Salomé Viljoen uses the so-called “alignment problem” as a starting point to interrogate how AI risks are framed, who gets to define them, and what gets overlooked when the debate stays theoretical.
Moving beyond doomsday artificial general intelligence scenarios, Viljoen grounds the conversation in the present, examining how AI already shapes energy use, labor, discrimination, and law.
Her message to students is clear: AI isn’t just a tool to use, but a technology lawyers will help govern—and its social impact is still being decided.
New Research from Michigan Law Professors Supports Real-World Value of AI for Lawyers
Until recently, empirical legal research has largely concluded that generative artificial intelligence tools may be interesting, but they don’t offer much actual value in real-world lawyering.
However, a new study by Michigan Law Professors J.J. Prescott, Patrick Barry, and their colleagues suggests that certain AI tools can help with efficiency and, in some cases, accuracy and legal reasoning.
“This project suggests that not all AI models are always going to be helpful on all dimensions, but by and large you’re not any worse off using AI as a tool. And, on many dimensions, you are much better off,” Prescott says.
I Want My Students to Become “Conspicuously Good” at AI
Drawing inspiration from a famous compliment to Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter, this article by Michigan Law’s Patrick Barry argues that true AI fluency goes beyond technical skill. It’s about confident, critical, and creative engagement with fast-moving tools, while knowing how to spot overhyped “AI snake oil.”
Through global classrooms and workshops, the piece explores how cultivating visible AI savvy can sharpen judgment, boost careers, and help professionals thrive amid constant technological change.
AI and Legal Research in the Michigan Law Library
As artificial intelligence reshapes legal practice, Michigan Law’s library is positioning students to stay ahead of the curve.
Under Christine Schauder, the Law Library’s new head of emerging legal technologies, the Legal Tech Series gives students hands-on exposure to the AI tools already used by law firms—while emphasizing judgment, accuracy, and ethics. From spotting AI hallucinations to navigating evolving regulations, the program blends practical training with foundational research skills.
Increasingly, it is becoming clear that AI can enhance legal work, but only when paired with strong legal reasoning, source evaluation, and an understanding of where technology helps—and where it can mislead.
![The Tech [R]evolution in Law](/sites/default/files/styles/teaser/public/2023-03/The-Tech-%5BR%5Devolution-in-Law.jpg.webp?itok=Obrll94p "The Tech [R]evolution in Law")
