Shaping the Future Generation of Legal Engineers

With the growing need for “legal engineers” who can harness technology, automation, data analytics, and more to augment their core knowledge of the law, a small but rising number of law schools are taking notice—and action. Through the introduction of innovative courses, clinics, and programming, future lawyers are developing an understanding of technology’s application to—and impact on—the delivery of legal services, as well as the skills required to meet the legal landscape’s expanding and evolving needs.

The innovative learning programs offered at law schools like Cleveland-Marshall, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Harvard, and Hofstra leverage training from a broad range of disciplines to foster the competencies required to make our justice system more efficient, accessible, and aligned with the needs of low-income and disenfranchised communities. Core competencies for legal engineers include familiarity with data-driven artificial intelligence, such as technology-assisted document review; client education methods such as eLearning; contract management and document automation/assembly tools; and various technology-driven methods of conducting day-to-day business.

The trend toward technologically tailored programming is empowering the next generation of lawyers to reinvent the delivery of legal services and revolutionize access to justice as we know it.

For more about the future of legal education, check out the latest episode of Live with Kellye & Ken—Law and Technology—featuring special guests, Deans Megan Carpenter (New Hampshire), Anthony Niedwiecki (Golden Gate), Hari Osofsky (Penn State), Andy Perlman (Suffolk), and Song Richardson (UC Irvine).