AI goes to law school . . .
reflections and advice from 3Ls
My, how time flies when you’re having fun! November 2024 marked the first anniversary of the Vanderbilt AI Law Lab! 🎉 And, this fall we launched the first VAILL practicum, bringing six third-year law students together to explore and experiment with generative AI.
VAILL founding co-director Mark Williams and I launched the AI in Law Practice course (or AILP as we fondly refer to it) in the fall of 2023, and building on the success of this course rolled the practicum out as the next grand experiment in the VAILL curriculum.
We learned A LOT last semester and as we gear up to do it again in the spring of ‘25, we’re going to start sharing some of our practicum learnings here on The AI of Law.
We’ve watched as many schools roll out their versions of AILP courses, and while we’re far from experts, we do have insights to share with fellow educators on the topic of teaching AI to law students. And perhaps more importantly, our students have insights to share with their law student colleagues!
So starting today, we’re launching a short series of posts, advice from law students for law students, in the form of manifestos written by the inaugural VAILL practicum graduates.
AI is going to law school. And as a human-centered educator, I believe one of the first places we should turn to figure out what this means for our students, is . . . our students.
While the advice is written by law students for law students, know this: these 3L students understand more about the impact (real and potential) of AI on the practice of law than most practicing lawyers I know. And, the advice they offer applies as much to lawyers as it does to students.
I learned a few things from these students (as I always do). I hope you will, too!
Cat Moon
16 December 2024