Future-Proofing the Next Generation of Lawyers
Southern California’s law schools embrace technology to prepare students for employment in a rapidly changing legal landscape
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As the early 2000s gave way to the mid-century, one thing that continually occupied real estate in headlines was a simple, if not ominous question:
“Will technology take my job?” From mailrooms to boardrooms, the idea that automation, including the advent and rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) would have significant ramifications on employment was inescapable, including in the legal profession. Technology hasn’t replaced lawyers, doctors or other professionals, but it’s a key tool to help them better practice their specialized professions.
At local law schools, technologies like AI have quickly grown from a new and interesting trend into a tool that is essential to learn and incorporate into education and legal practice.
To that end, the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law launched a new program that offers a certificate for law and artificial intelligence. It’s a 12-unit certificate that is offered on a part-time basis as a standalone program at law school. Enrollment is open to both students and other members of the community who take the coursework.
“Technology is a great equalizer. There’s no going back. This has fundamentally changed how the law operates,” said Dean Franita Tolson, who is a nationally recognized expert in election law, who was named dean of the school last year after serving as interim dean during the prior year and vice dean for faculty and academic affairs from 2019 to 2022.
When AI was first adopted as a mainstream technology, it generated concerns related to the potential for cheating. However, those fears quickly changed as the advantages of utilizing technology to review documents or research case law offered clear advantages. By providing exposure to technology at law school, Tolson recognized that it helps make students more marketable when they graduate and enter the legal profession. Ultimately, students need to have real-life skills in addition to a strong educational foundation to meet the needs of the firms and major companies that seek to hire law school graduates, and AI’s time-savings benefits far outweigh the chances it will be used maliciously.
Other schools have created similar offerings. UC Berkeley Law will launch an AI-focused Master of Laws (LLM) degree law program this summer. The program can be completed over two summers or through remote study combined with one summer on campus.
Student groups have been formed to create programs devoted to education about artificial intelligence. At UCLA School of Law, the AI Law Association at UCLA was founded two years ago and develops programs such as industry panels, skills workshops and research publications. The group promotes AI tools as a complement to traditional legal education, but also stimulates conversations about the ethical and logistical consequences of technological disruption in the legal industry.
In California, there were 18 new laws signed by Governor Newsom that went into effect on Jan. 1 that directly addressed artificial intelligence. There are now significant regulations regarding deepfake technology, AI transparency, data privacy, and use of AI in medical records and health care. California is at the forefront of this technology, with many Silicon Valley area companies working on large language models and their implementation into all aspects of business and compliance with new and evolving laws regarding intellectual property and privacy. Some laws permit a private right of action, but most focus on state oversight to keep AI transparent and protect the public from misuse.
Furthermore, AB 2013 will go into effect in 2026 and requires developers to disclose extensive details about the data used to train their large language models going back to 2022 including sources, types and whether it includes copyrighted information. This type of documentation is designed to provide some transparency, but could create compliance issues as many companies did not track this information previously in the manner that needs to be disclosed under the law.
New Programs For a Changing Legal Landscape
USC Gould School of Law is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, and Dean Tolson explained that the school prides itself on engaging with new and evolving areas of law as part of its long history of innovation. The first modern legal aid program grew out of a USC Gould clinic established in 1929. It has developed new programs as the university expanded, currently offering 15 dual-degree programs.
This fall, USC Gould will launch a sports, media, entertainment and technology center to capitalize on the major events such as the World Cup, Olympics and Super Bowl coming to Southern California in the next few years. The school created a program that connects students with internships at local sports teams, law firms and other sports industry companies. The sports, media and entertainment industry has grown tremendously over the past few years as student athletes gained the legal right to commercialize their name, image and likeness and the growth of streaming services.
We are well past the time where it is enough for people to graduate and only know how to think like lawyers. They need to have some understanding of how a transaction works, how the law works in practice. We have an obligation to make sure our students are prepared,” said Tolson.
Clinics are a vital part of practical, hands-on training for attorneys. At LMU Loyola Law School in Downtown Los Angeles, Dean Brietta Clark described the work done at the school’s 20 different legal clinics that ranges from working with children to immigrant justice, a project for the innocent and a focus on working with those who have suffered from atrocities. Clark, an alumnus of USC Gould, was named dean of Loyola Law School last year after serving as interim dean. She joined the law school faculty in 2001.
“The clinics are grounded in our mission as a Jesuit university. It’s an aspect of the program that draws people to us because they want to make a difference as soon as possible,” said Clark.
While clinics are an excellent opportunity for students to gain real life work experience, at USC Gould, a different type of program was launched under Tolson’s leadership that provides opportunities for visiting professors to teach at the school, offering a chance to spend a year or two in an academic role while simultaneously spending time writing a law article.
“We want to do our part to make it more accessible to those who don’t consider teaching. They just need an opportunity,” said Tolson.
Campus Life: Onsite, Remote or Hybrid
In addition to enhanced course offerings, Tolson’s hiring coincided with a major fundraising campaign to support the construction of a new and dedicated law school building. The proposed six-level building will provide USC Gould with an additional 55,000 square feet and will be located directly west of the current Musick Law Building. The campaign seeks to raise $50 million and the school is hosting numerous events as part of its year-long celebration of its 125th anniversary that will also benefit future student bodies.
Even as schools expand physically to meet the needs of the next generation of lawyers, at Loyola Law School, Dean Clark noted that technology has also changed the way that students interact with the physical campus, leading them to develop a hybrid learning program. The school had a part-time program that traditionally met four evenings per week, but that changed due to COVID-19.
“COVID really escalated the idea that so much more legal work is becoming online. Many court appearances are now remote. We need to incorporate technology into education to show students what the practice looks like – today and tomorrow.”
