AI in legal education: Industry experts highlight need for AI literacy in law schools

The Hindu

5 days ago

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into legal education is becoming increasingly essential as the Indian judiciary grapples with persistent case backlogs. With a government allocation of ₹7210 Crore for the e-Courts Phase III project, which includes ₹53.57 Crore specifically for AI and Blockchain technologies, the legal landscape is set to undergo significant transformation.
AI technologies such as Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Predictive Analytics are being utilised to automate administrative tasks, enhance case tracking, and improve crime prevention efforts. This shift is not limited to the judiciary; top law firms in India are also adopting AI tools to streamline research, drafting, and due diligence processes. However, this raises critical questions about ethics, bias, and the future of legal education.
To prepare students for an evolving job market where AI plays a crucial role, law schools must update their curricula to include AI literacy. Students should learn how to adapt technology while preserving core legal principles and enhancing their critical assessment skills.
The Hindu hosted a webinar titled 'Gamechanger: Teaching AI to Law Students and Lawyers' on July 5 at 5:00 p.m. It featured experts like Shouvik Kumar Guha from NUJS and Sonam Chandwani from KS Legal & Associates. The discussion will focus on how law schools can implement these changes effectively.
How are law firms using AI?
According to Ms. Chandwani, AI is very beneficial for students aiming to join law firms, as law firms have evolved, and so have their expectations from new hires. She emphasized that legal education must become more aligned with practical industry needs.
Ms. Chandwani stressed the need for AI literacy. She said that students should learn AI basics in plain terms, like how machine learning can dig through court rulings or predict outcomes, or how natural language processing speeds up reading contracts under the Indian Contract Act. She said that students don't need to be tech geniuses, as that's not their forte, but just understand how AI helps firms save time and win clients.
On the uses of AI at a law firm, she said, 'We use AI when we are unable to find the relevant judgments or are unable to do research within the specified time. Ms. Chandwani said these skills make new hires valuable as firms use AI to cut costs on big cases. She added, 'AI comes in handy while conducting due diligence, preparing the checklist, or going through the contract review.'
Ms. Chandwani said AI can make mistakes, like giving wrong judgments. It is very important to understand and read the subject and ensure that the outcomes are efficient. Highlighting data sensitivity, she said firms handle private clients' data, so they face hefty fines in case there is any slip-up. She added, 'Students also need to learn how to spot and fix these biases to keep firms out of trouble. End-to-end job will never be possible to be done through AI.'
Exploring different teaching techniques
According to Mr. Guha, the legal field is changing, and once technology gets introduced in a certain field, you cannot keep tech out of it forcibly. Pointing to the limitations in current educational structures, Guha observed, 'There are law schools with over 800, 900 students in a batch. How is a teacher supposed to give personalised feedback and prepare these students specifically? This gap is something which we can try to bridge with technology.'
Also Read: AI in law: Students need to sharpen critical assessment skills to make best use of technology
Mr. Guha said that AI-powered tutors by no means whatsoever are a substitute for faculty, but they can guide students with additional, specific feedback. However, he said, 'Completely unregulated and unsupervised use of AI tools, especially at a formative age for law students, has the disadvantage of robbing them of some of the critical thinking power'.
Mr. Guha stressed that with the advent of AI, the traditional methodology of giving students a piece of essay to write as an assignment won't work. 'Because it's too much of a temptation to just give a prompt to ChatGPT and get a 5,000-word essay in ten seconds. One of the alternative solutions that Mr. Guha explored is that he can ask the students to submit a line-by-line critique of the assignment that the large language model has produced.
Also Read: Justice Unplugged: 'Law students must stay rooted in legal knowledge, not solely rely on AI'
Mr. Guha elaborated, 'Students can see whether the cases which have been used are to be used in those case scenarios, whether there is an extra case the model has missed, whether there is a jump in logic that AI has made in the way it has talked about certain provisions. Are those provisions applicable here?' He added, 'So I ask for a line-by-line critique of that. And if I intend to help the student research, help the student learn about the problem more—that can get sorted that way.'
Mr. Guha also pointed to the limitations of current teaching methods, stating that one of the biggest issues that we face is the lack of innovation and imagination inside classrooms. 'If I am teaching students about a certain scenario, I can use AI to come up with multiple different case studies or multiple different possible ways in which the students can attack a problem. You know, simulation techniques. There can be hundreds of different things.'
Can AI perpetuate inequalities in law education?
Mr. Sharma said we need to ask who has access to these tools. He highlighted disparities among Indian law schools, stating, He added that AI risks entrenching deeper academic disparities. He said, 'People who know about AI can build their resume using it. They can write articles through AI and then get them published through sham publication formats.'
Moreover, he pointed out systemic divides even within the teaching staff. 'Some of the faculties are also training in AI, especially in the premier law schools, which have access to the best AI tools—they are training their students for future employment', he said.