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Artificial intelligence is already being used in law firms today, but faculty and administrators at Kentucky’s law schools don’t believe it will be so efficient that it will result in job cuts, as human intellect and connections must remain at the heart of the profession.
Despite its many advantages, Beau Steenken at the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law said he doesn’t foresee AI replacing legal jobs or lawyers—it can answer questions but lacks the judgment to reliably counsel people on future behavior and make real-world decisions as a human attorney must do.
“It doesn’t have the empathy you need to be a lawyer,” said Steenken, acting associate dean for academic affairs, instructional services librarian and professor of legal research for UK’s law library faculty since 2010.
Companies that provide AI solutions don’t want to be responsible for any decisions that ultimately backfire—that responsibility legally lies on humans, too.
As policymakers of the near future, law students need to have gained the experience during their studies to consider AI and its implications.
“Laws kind of develop naturally, so as AI becomes prevalent, (we are) also looking at what policies and laws and regulations need to be put in place for new technologies,” Steenken said.
The law is a discipline steeped in tradition, and as such it evolves somewhat slowly, said Judy Daar, dean and professor at Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law
In some ways, lawyers are thought to be behind the curve for technology compared to some other business sectors, Daar said, but NKU and other institutions are teaching today’s students how to maximize available technologies from ethics and efficiency standpoints that best serve clients.
She chooses to view AI as an existing and evolving technology, making the best of its incredible power for the organization of information and access to justice.
“Like any technology, it’s emerged, it’s embraced and it evolves,” Daar said, making it hard to know at what point to consider it a work in progress versus a standard technology—and when, exactly, that transition occurs.
It isn’t likely to eliminate legal jobs, she said, but may instead shift some existing duties.
However, lawyers’ clients may benefit from increased efficiency and fewer billable hours, thus resulting in professional legal assistance going to some who might not otherwise be able to afford it.
“It will create opportunities for lawyers and improve the way that people access law,” Daar said.
When Steenken went to law school at the University of Texas about 20 years ago, books and desktop computers went hand in hand as classroom and legal research staples. Now the law students he instructs must have a laptop or tablet among their basic school supplies, with computers the go-to for research.
“These progressions are natural,” he said.
Ironic in phrasing, today’s natural progression is the advent of artificial intelligence, which is permeating many business sectors to jazz up their social media posts, business emails and documents as well as aiding in problem solving and automation.
It is foremost among new technologies in an age of tech, and the legal profession is embracing AI as a valuable research tool. Kentucky’s law schools are teaching students to grasp its capabilities in preparation for their careers, while also cautioning them about lingering shortcomings and the need for discretion about when and how often to use it.
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Lawyers use different types of AI for different tasks, Steenken said. Generative AI is newest, creating new content from existing information. It’s beginning to be incorporated into classes, but limitations still exist.
“It’s not perfect yet,” he said. “It’s not a magic bullet or anything. It can have errors.”
He tells students to consider AI platforms as “working prototypes” that can be considered more of a tool for research to pinpoint potential sources of desired information, which they can then expand on through their direct engagement.
The two major legal research firms, Westlaw and LexisNexis, have rolled out generative AI assistant tools: Westlaw Precision With Co-Counsel and Lexis + AI, respectively. Students are now learning what they have to offer.
The online descriptions of these tools state that they can be used to research claims to shape legal arguments, check the accuracy of documents, and find relationships between different cases in addition to quickly compiling and sharing data.
Law students can use AI to ask follow-up questions during their class research or to help summarize a case.
“We’re incorporating using AI into some of the legal research classes, where they learn the methods of legal research and writing anyway,” Steenken said, adding that there are also a few standalone classes solely devoted to AI.
The Legal Issues and Generative AI course at UK explores legal ramifications of AI and using it in a law practice, how it affects copyright and how new laws may be created to help regulate it.
The professor of this course, Michael Murray, is part of an interdisciplinary grant at UK that’s studying AI, Steenken noted.
Professional Responsibility courses also cover AI. Some early high-profile cases have involved attorneys who used AI to cite cases that, as it turns out, didn’t actually exist, Steenken said. And Legal Practice and Artificial Intelligence is an experiential course in which students have hypothetical clients with realistic problems they may encounter.
“They will be using AI in that class to explore its limitations and uses and how to use it effectively,” he said.
Extractive AI comes into play when pulling targeted information from electronic files during the discovery process, he said.
Though some AI-related classes aren’t required, students are welcome to use AI on their own for required classes like Legal Research and Writing, Steenken said, though they must use traditional research methods also.
In Steenken’s Legal Research and Writing courses, students are asked to redo a project they’ve already done using traditional methods and switch to AI for the revised project, spotting any deficiencies and limitations.
“They’ve developed, then, a knowledge base into some specific legal issues that helps them evaluate,” he said.
Integrating law, business and technology
Daar said several aspects of NKU’s curriculum address the use of technology in law.
All Chase students must take a legal research course, where professors teach all modalities for researching law and ancillary topics, she said.
“We feel good about having students enter the legal market knowing how to find the law, knowing how to analyze the law and how to explain the law using technology,” she said.
These skills include using databases that predate AI as well as AI and versions based on large language models specifically geared toward the law, she adds.
Additionally, a specialty program that began nearly two decades ago is the Lunsford Academy for Law, Business and Technology. It was founded by NKU alum, attorney and businessman Bruce Lunsford to integrate law, business and technology, with specialty courses focusing on technology.
Newer courses are examining AI and its implications for the law.
“In addition, we offer courses that are geared toward law practice management, and naturally that would include the way technology integrates with law practice today,” Daar said, giving examples like how to manage a law firm, interacting with the legal system and using technology in research and law analysis.
“It’s a very holistic approach to the practice of law using modern technology,” she said.
Melanie B. Jacobs, dean and professor of law at University of Louisville’s Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, said the school is engaging with AI in myriad and increasing ways.
Students are taught to not lean too heavily upon AI and to still use their own critical thinking skills.
“In our required first-year Lawyering Skills class, students are learning when and how to use generative AI tools ethically and responsibly, as well as when not to use them,” she said. “This approach aims to help students prepare for the realities of practice while still developing essential legal skills without relying on technology to do their thinking for them.”
Jacobs said students are being trained on LexisAI and using it to research appellate briefs. Some lawyering skills professors are also using ChatGPT in research exercises, she adds, and faculty members have conducted workshops on integrating AI into the curriculum.
In spring 2024, the Brandeis school launched its first Professional Identity Formation class, with one session dedicated to proper and ethical usage of AI. And a faculty member, Susan Tanner, is developing a new course for 2026 that in part discusses generative AI in the legal field.
Turner counts AI among several areas of academic focus, Jacobs said, and has represented Brandeis School of Law on a number of university and statewide task forces, looking at additional ways in which to respond to and incorporate AI in legal education.