For prospective students wondering how AI fits into the future of the profession, this blog post gives a glimpse into the thoughtful, practical approach shaping our curriculum.

Faculty are exploring how artificial intelligence can support legal learning and future practice, including Professor George Brown ’17, who teaches legal analysis, writing and research, and serves on the law school’s committee on AI use. His perspective is clear: AI isn’t here to replace lawyers. It’s here to help them do their work better.

“AI will help lawyers become more efficient, spending less time on tedious and time-consuming tasks,” says Professor Brown, but he quickly adds that, “AI cannot replace the ‘thinking like a lawyer’ skills that set apart lawyers from AI or the general public.”

AI can help with…

• Organizing large amounts of information
• Drafting early outlines or summaries
• Spotting patterns in documents
• Reducing time spent on repetitive or administrative tasks

…but it cannot replace the core skills that define the profession!

That distinction is central to UB Law’s approach. Students learn how to use AI as a support system—never as a shortcut for the critical thinking, reasoning and analysis that law school is designed to build.

Even as technology advances, the heart of legal practice remains deeply human. Lawyers serve people and need to build human relationships with their clients. That includes navigating complex interpersonal dynamics, using sound judgment, communicating with clarity and empathy, thinking critically through ambiguous and sometimes conflicting issues, and above all it means building trust.

These are skills no algorithm can replace.

Professor Brown explains: “Repetition and feedback are necessary to understand legal writing, and you cannot effectively use AI unless you have these baseline skills.” UB Law’s curriculum reflects that reality. Students learn to use AI tools responsibly while strengthening the human skills that define great attorneys.

UB Law’s committee on AI use is working to ensure students understand both the potential and the limitations of AI. That means:

• Teaching students how to evaluate AI‑generated content
• Helping them understand when AI is and isn’t appropriate
• Showing them how to integrate AI into research and writing without losing their own voice
• Preparing them for workplaces where AI tools may be part of daily practice.

Professor Brown encourages students to treat AI the same way they treat any other legal resource: with curiosity, caution and a commitment to accuracy. That starts with assignments that get to the root of how AI will be used, and how students will understand its use.

The law school is committed to preparing students for a profession that is changing but will always remain essential.

“[AI] has made us consider different types of assignments that will touch on different aspects,” says Professor Brown, “such as editing, which will be a critical legal writing skill in an age where the first draft of documents may be created by AI.”

For upper-level students, Brown will teach a course on Generative AI and Legal Analysis, Writing, and Research beginning next spring. AI critical literacy, AI prompting and research, and AI drafting and editing will be the focus.

UB Law integrates AI discussions into research and writing courses to help students develop practical and responsible methods for AI use. Faculty-led conversations with students encourage fastidious source-checking and technological literacy to go hand-in-hand with strong foundational skills.

For prospective students, this means you’ll enter the profession ready to use modern tools without sacrificing the rigorous training that is critical for the practice of law.

AI may change how lawyers work, but it won’t change why their work matters. The profession will always need advocates, problem‑solvers, negotiators and leaders. UB School of Law prepares students for those essential roles in our society, without forgetting the bedrock of skills that will help them thrive in a rapidly evolving legal landscape.

Your law school journey will be shaped not only by what you learn, but by how you adapt, innovate and lead. By honing those uniquely human abilities and using AI as a tool to enhance—not replace—those skills, you can help ensure that the future of the legal profession remains in good hands.

Why not start building that future today?

• Preparing Tomorrow’s Lawyers for the Age of AI
• Department of AI and Society
• Meet Professor George Brown ’17