Law School AI Policies: Frameworks, Guardrails, and Guidance - AALS/West Academic AI Webinar Series

Session Description As artificial intelligence rapidly changes the landscape of legal education and the legal profession, law faculty and administrators are grappling with how to guide students toward responsible and effective use of these tools—both throughout their legal education and into their careers. This session brings together panelists to explore the questions law schools are wrestling with as they consider what today’s students need to know to prepare for an AI-enabled practice environment. Discussion will touch on themes such as how to encourage exploration without undermining foundational skills, what it looks like to help students understand both the capabilities and limitations of generative AI, and how institutions navigate the interplay between school-wide frameworks and classroom-level policies—recognizing that many law schools leave much of this decision-making to individual faculty. Panelists will share perspectives drawn from their own institutional contexts and ongoing work in this space. Whether your institution is drafting its first AI policy, revisiting an existing approach, or thinking through how to support faculty making these calls course-by-course, this conversation is designed to surface useful framings and open questions for administrators and faculty alike. Moderator Caitlin Moon Vanderbilt University Law School Speakers William H. J. Hubbard University of Chicago Law School Emily M. Janoski-Haehlen University of Akron School of Law Nancy B. Rapoport UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law