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06 October 2023 / Jo-Anne Pugh
Issue: 8043 / Categories: Features , Profession
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Separating hype from reality—the impact of AI on legal training

AI may be transformative but lawyers still need to be taught core skills, writes Jo-Anne Pugh
  • While AI technology has the potential to alter the legal sector, this shouldn’t be conflated with a fundamental change in the nature of what it means to be a lawyer.
  • Rather than a complete overhaul of our current approach to legal education, we must consider how best to prepare an AI-enabled, rather than AI-replaced, generation of lawyers.

The legal profession has been likened to a ‘closed shop’, resilient against the influences of flash-in-the-pan trends and with a reputation for being hesitant to change. Yet, the plethora of discussions around advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technology over the past year demonstrate how the profession is not immune to jumping on a tech bandwagon.

Questions about the future of the legal profession in an AI world are on the rise, with charged headlines about AI threatening the livelihoods of legal professionals and stories of lawyers being fined after

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

mfg Solicitors—Hayley Pearce & Lauren Williams

mfg Solicitors—Hayley Pearce & Lauren Williams

Law firm mfg Solicitors announces promotions at Ludlow office

Womble Bond Dickinson—Richard Sharpe

Womble Bond Dickinson—Richard Sharpe

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints partner in Leeds residential team

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners—six promotions

Brabners adds six to partnership in record year for partner promotions

NEWS
Calls to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 have been renewed, with the Bar Council arguing the current threshold criminalises children too early and risks pushing them towards lifelong offending
The legal profession's AI challenge extends far beyond fabricated case citations, according to a warning about the next phase of technological risk
Law firms should use the transition period before the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) assumes anti-money laundering (AML) supervision to strengthen governance and compliance, experts have warned
Cross-border disputes increasingly demand creative approaches to gathering evidence, with litigators needing to look beyond traditional letters of request
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified the distinction between contracts of 'indefinite' and 'perpetual' duration, with potentially significant implications for commercial drafting
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