Quick, name the canon introductory courses for law students. Constitutional Law, Torts, Contracts, Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, Property, and Legal Writing. Did you get them all? Great! Unless you’re planning to start your legal career at Mississippi College School of Law. Recently, Justice Sotomayor advised law students to master AI before they graduate. Once optional, Mississippi law students’ grades will now depend on their rapid adoption of artificial intelligence. Huff Post has coverage:
Mississippi College School of Law is one of the first schools in the nation to tackle the growing influence of artificial intelligence in jurisprudence by making AI education mandatory for all students.
For John Anderson, dean of the school, the goal is to train law students “to use the technology effectively, efficiently, and ethically and avoid a lot of the headlines that you’ve seen already where lawyers take shortcuts by using these technologies.”
MC is the first law school in the Southeast to require all students to complete an AI course. While the school has other AI classes, a general course is now mandatory for all first-year students.
Many schools in the T14 moved to incorporate Harvey as an option for law students, but they’ve (as far as we know) left its adoption up to the students’ discretion. Mississippi trained their students using Wickard AI. The dean is right to warn students that shoddy work and AI make for great headlines and career damage — just remain cautious, you don’t want to become so dependent on the service that you miss out on the grunt work that makes you think like a lawyer. Getting the Palsgraf holding from a Quimbee summary might be enough to get you through a cold call or the points you need for an essay question, but personally parsing through difficult text for extended periods of time is a hard-won skill that will serve you in the long run. You will have to do the work on your own at some point. After all, running your client’s information through some LLMs can be enough to void attorney-client privilege. This is the sort of obvious stuff that should be covered in the class, but what’s the harm in reinforcing the lessons you picked up from a two-day course?
Best of luck forced guinea pigs, early adapters! Make the most of your legal education and try to stay sane in the process. I’d say that generally, but the advice takes a more clinical tone when it comes to regular AI use.
Mississippi Law School Makes AI Education Mandatory For All Students [Huff Post]
Earlier: Justice Sotomayor Advises Law Students On AI Adoption — There Should Have Been A Stronger Warning
Lawyers Using ChatGPT: Let’s Be Careful
Harvey Snags Even More Seats In The T14!
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at christopherrashadwilliams@gmail.com and by Tweet/Bluesky at @WritesForRent.
The post Headed To Mississippi Law? Prepare To Get Used To AI appeared first on Above the Law.
Quick, name the canon introductory courses for law students. Constitutional Law, Torts, Contracts, Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, Property, and Legal Writing. Did you get them all? Great! Unless you’re planning to start your legal career at Mississippi College School of Law. Recently, Justice Sotomayor advised law students to master AI before they graduate. Once optional, Mississippi law students’ grades will now depend on their rapid adoption of artificial intelligence. Huff Post has coverage:
Mississippi College School of Law is one of the first schools in the nation to tackle the growing influence of artificial intelligence in jurisprudence by making AI education mandatory for all students.
For John Anderson, dean of the school, the goal is to train law students “to use the technology effectively, efficiently, and ethically and avoid a lot of the headlines that you’ve seen already where lawyers take shortcuts by using these technologies.”
MC is the first law school in the Southeast to require all students to complete an AI course. While the school has other AI classes, a general course is now mandatory for all first-year students.
Many schools in the T14 moved to incorporate Harvey as an option for law students, but they’ve (as far as we know) left its adoption up to the students’ discretion. Mississippi trained their students using Wickard AI. The dean is right to warn students that shoddy work and AI make for great headlines and career damage — just remain cautious, you don’t want to become so dependent on the service that you miss out on the grunt work that makes you think like a lawyer. Getting the Palsgraf holding from a Quimbee summary might be enough to get you through a cold call or the points you need for an essay question, but personally parsing through difficult text for extended periods of time is a hard-won skill that will serve you in the long run. You will have to do the work on your own at some point. After all, running your client’s information through some LLMs can be enough to void attorney-client privilege. This is the sort of obvious stuff that should be covered in the class, but what’s the harm in reinforcing the lessons you picked up from a two-day course?
Best of luck forced guinea pigs, early adapters! Make the most of your legal education and try to stay sane in the process. I’d say that generally, but the advice takes a more clinical tone when it comes to regular AI use.
Mississippi Law School Makes AI Education Mandatory For All Students [Huff Post]
Earlier: Justice Sotomayor Advises Law Students On AI Adoption — There Should Have Been A Stronger Warning
Lawyers Using ChatGPT: Let’s Be Careful
Harvey Snags Even More Seats In The T14!
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boat builder who is learning to swim and is interested in rhetoric, Spinozists and humor. Getting back in to cycling wouldn’t hurt either. You can reach him by email at christopherrashadwilliams@gmail.com and by Tweet/Bluesky at @WritesForRent.
The post Headed To Mississippi Law? Prepare To Get Used To AI appeared first on Above the Law.
