Law Schools are leaning into teaching AI as a skill and are offering courses on it to get students practice-ready, according to data from a recent Bloomberg Law survey.
Twenty-five of the 28 ABA-accredited law schools that provided data to Bloomberg Law’s Law School Innovation Program indicated that their school offers AI-focused courses (such as introductory courses, advanced courses, and tech-focused legal clinics) that teach a variety of AI skills.
“These are the skills that will define the next generation of legal professionals,” said Thomas Turner, Assistant Director of Emerging Technology and Digital Initiatives at Vanderbilt University School of Law, which opened the Vanderbilt Artificial Intelligence Law Lab in 2023.
Faculty at participating law schools acknowledge the importance of teaching AI. According to Andrew English, Director of Institutional Research at Charleston School of Law, “AI and legal technology are not future concerns but present realities reshaping how law is practiced.”
All but three law schools offer multiple AI-focused courses. However, the skills that are taught within the courses themselves are the most important for practice. Skills taught most frequently include AI and legal ethics, AI literacy, and AI for legal research and writing.
Fewer than half of participating schools offer courses focused on AI coaching (for example, training AI models) or using AI for client simulation or within clinics.
While most participating schools do not teach AI coaching or AI for client simulation, some do. In a comment written in the survey, Kevin Collins, Vice Dean of Academic Affairs at Washington University St. Louis School of Law, said that the school continues to expand its curriculum to advance AI education and provided an example of how the school is using AI coaching to create a model to actually teach students. According to Collins, WashU “will make history by offering the first course team, taught by AI and a professor, that will enable students to exercise their critical thinking skills to evaluate lessons taught by an AI Chatbot.”
Participating schools demonstrate an understanding that AI skills are in demand. And, according to a separate Bloomberg Law survey of students and practicing lawyers, attorneys who manage junior associates expect them to be well-versed in a variety of AI skills like cite-checking, work product review, and understanding the legal ethics of AI at majority levels. According to the Bloomberg Law survey, almost half of attorneys expect new hires to be AI literate.
Overall, the expectation for lawyers to be practice-ready on day one has been growing. As participating law schools highlight their embrace of teaching AI skills in course offerings, they also show a strong focus on practical training in general. Surveyed law schools offer twice as many skills-based courses—designed to teach practical skills like legal research and writing and clinics involving client representation—than core foundational courses, which focus on teaching substantive rules, principles, and theories of law.
Law professors say that law schools historically do well in teaching students how to think like a lawyer but that they often fail to teach students skills for varied legal careers. And, some say, students with extensive practical experience are better prepared to practice, and today, that includes knowing how to leverage AI as well. Participating law schools are demonstrating efforts to meet current market demands.
Methodology
The Law School Innovation Program debut survey focused on collective quantitative metrics, such as data around skills-based teaching and technology integration. Twenty-eight schools self-reported data through a questionnaire asking for information on topics like the number of courses emphasizing skills training and how schools are teaching legal technology and AI. Additional data was collected but was not comprehensive enough to report in aggregate. Data were collected from Oct. 1, 2025, to Dec. 5, 2025.
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