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Let’s face it – law school is changing. Sure, the textbooks are still heavy and the case briefs still keep students up at night. But now, there’s a new tool in the mix that’s changing how students study, write and even think about the law – generative AI.

What started as a curiosity has now become a core part of the law school experience. In fact, according to a 2024 American Bar Association survey, a massive 83% of law schools already offer opportunities for students to engage with AI tools, and over half (55%) even have full-on courses dedicated to teaching students how to use them effectively. This isn’t a side hustle anymore. It’s front and centre in legal education. And students have jumped in with both feet.

A 2025 survey of over 1,000 university students revealed that a staggering 92% are now using AI in their studies. That’s not some niche behaviour – that’s nearly everyone. What’s wild is how fast it’s growing. From 2024 to 2025, the number of students using AI for things like research and writing has doubled. Law students are using AI to get explanations for complex legal topics, to summarise long articles and to brainstorm research ideas. Students are using AI confidently – not because they want shortcuts, but because it genuinely helps them understand more and produce better work.

What’s most interesting is that students don’t see AI as a crutch. They see it as a companion. They’re not using it to dodge the hard stuff, they’re using it to make sense of it. Whether it’s breaking down a confusing concept or polishing a messy first draft into something submission-worthy, AI is helping students think more critically, learn faster and build actual legal skills that matter. They’re improving how they communicate, how they analyse information and how they make decisions – all things they’ll need in the real world.

And it’s not just about class assignments. AI is helping students collaborate better, prep for exams with smarter revision strategies and explore legal areas they might not have had the confidence or background to dive into before. It’s turning the solo, often overwhelming, experience of legal learning into something a bit more dynamic, and honestly, a bit more human.

But here’s where it gets even more interesting – what’s happening in law school isn’t staying in law school. These students are heading to law firms soon and they’re bringing their AI habits with them. This means the legal profession needs to catch up fast.

According to a 2024 LexisNexis survey, just over half of law firms have already bought generative AI tools for legal matters. And almost all of them (94%) say they’re planning to increase their AI investment over the next five years. That’s a big deal. However, even that pace might not be fast enough. Incoming lawyers are already trained on AI, and many are saying loud and clear: if your firm isn’t using AI, they’re not interested. In that same survey, 11% of students said they’d consider leaving a firm if it didn’t embrace AI. At large firms, that number jumps to 19%. Here’s the kicker – over a third of law students at big firms think that not having access to AI tools could actually hurt their career growth. For them, AI isn’t a “nice to have”, it’s a dealbreaker.

It’s also a massive shift in the power dynamic between firms and talent. Law students are walking in, not just with degrees, but with expectations. They’ve already seen how much more efficient, creative and precise they can be when they use AI. They don’t want to go back to slow, outdated systems. They want technology that keeps up with how they work now – and how they want to work in the future.

All of this means that the future of the legal profession is being shaped in law schools right now. The students of 2025 are already fluent in generative AI. They’re comfortable with it. They trust it and, more importantly, they know how to use it wisely. When they start walking into firms, they’re going to expect the same kind of smart, supportive technology they had in school.

So here’s the bottom line – law firms that want to attract and retain top young talent need to stop treating AI like a trend. It’s not going anywhere. It’s becoming part of legal culture. The question isn’t whether AI will change the legal world, it already has. The only question now is whether the rest of the profession is ready to keep up.