Why Law Schools are Making a 'Big Mistake' in AI Era Admissions
The number of law students who graduated in the class of 2024 spiked compared to previous years. That worries Nikia Gray, the head of the National Association for Law Placement.
"I think it's going to be a big mistake for law schools to continue to admit large law school class sizes," she said, "when we can predict with some pretty good certainty that GenAI is changing the business models of firms and their hiring practices."
Gray spoke to Bloomberg Law editor Jessie Kokrda Kamens on our podcast, On The Merits, about the ways AI will change the jobs of entry-level attorneys. The former Quarles & Brady recruiter also discussed what law students should be doing right now to get ready for a job market that's about to get much more competitive.
Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
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12:17
Trump's Law Firm Deals May Have Hurt Headcount: David Lat
It's still not clear what, if any, fallout the law firms that struck pro bono deals with President Donald Trump earlier this year will face. But analyzing attorney movements over the last six months provides one data point.
On average, law firms that settled subsequently lost attorneys more attorneys than those who fought the president in court, according to data obtained by Bloomberg Law columnist David Lat.
But there are some firms that buck this overall trend as well as plenty of caveats.
Lat joins our podcast, On The Merits, to walk us through this data on law firm headcounts since Trump started targeting law firms in the spring.
Lat also talks about the lawyer moves that will likely happen later this year that could give us an even clearer picture of how firms are doing and what effect the Trump deals are having on them.
Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
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14:49
Wachtell Has Its Fingerprints All Over Delaware Law Changes
Delaware recently changed its corporate laws to make them more favorable to companies being sued by their shareholders and the mega-firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz was deeply involved in that process.
That's raising some eyebrows because Wachtell is also a go-to firm for companies in Delaware, often called the corporate capital of the world. Lawyers from other prominent firms, like Wilson Sonsini and Richards, Layton & Finger, also helped shape the law.
On this episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law's Jennifer Kay and Roy Strom talk about what firms like Wachtell did in Delaware, what they stand to gain, and what all this has to do with Elon Musk's so-called "DExit."
Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
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13:43
King & Spalding 2,400 Hour Rule Is Just the Norm, Recruiter Says
A memo from law firm King & Spalding to its associates saying they need to log 2,400 "productive hours" a year surprised some in the legal world. But today's guest on our podcast, On The Merits, says it shouldn't have.
It's always been the case that lawyers need to go beyond meeting their billable hours quotas and put in some non-billable hours in order to advance their careers, according to Jessica Chin Somers, a former Big Law attorney and current managing director at Kinney Recruiting. King & Spalding just wrote down what was essentially a legal industry unwritten rule, she said.
Chin Somers talked to Bloomberg Law editor Jessie Kokrda Kamens about why associates might need to have this policy spelled out and about how they can get ahead even when they're not working on client matters.
Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
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13:09
Chicago Law Dean on AI: You Won't Be Able to Entirely Avoid It
Like most schools worried about academic integrity, the University of Chicago Law School used to discourage its first-year students from using generative AI but now it has crept into that first-year curriculum. Despite its overall inevitability, William Hubbard, a professor and deputy dean, says he's surprised by how often he has to encourage AI-skeptical law students to at least try it out.
Hubbard's school has seen how law firms, and especially large law firms, have embraced this new technology and it's followed suit, adding several AI-focused classes to its course offerings. Hubbard says the University of Chicago's students need to graduate with at least a basic familiarity with AI—specifically when it is and isn't appropriate to use in a legal setting.
He spoke to Bloomberg Law editor Jessie Kamens for our podcast, On The Merits, about what the legal industry wants law students to learn about AI and how his law school is going about teaching it.
Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.
On The Merits takes you behind the scenes of the legal world and the inner workings of law firms. This podcast offers in-depth analysis on the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping the business of law and the legal industry overall. You'll gain insights into how the latest government actions, policies, and business developments are impacting the industry and hear from leading attorneys, legal scholars, industry experts, and our own team of journalists as they share their perspectives on the forces driving change.
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