"The law has always been a deeply human affair: attorneys arguing, judges deliberating, juries weighing credibility, precedent, and plain old common sense. But now, something new has entered the courtroom - and it doesn't bill by the hour or even need a coffee break. Artificial intelligence (AI) has arrived, and it's quietly moving closer to the bench. AI is no longer just lurking in the background."
"Many in the legal field are excited about the efficiency AI offers. Others are quietly appalled. One senior judge recently said there are "some things AI can't do, and which it is desirable it doesn't do." That's judicial code for: let's not have a robot judge handing down sentences just yet. Still, AI's scope continues to expand. Law students are now learning to use it as part of their curriculum. Clerks are using it to organize case files. And let's be honest - more than a few partners are using it to draft legal documents they'll later falsely claim they "reviewed extensively.""
The law has always centered on human judgment, with attorneys arguing, judges deliberating, and juries weighing credibility, precedent, and common sense. Artificial intelligence is moving into courtrooms, quietly assisting judges, clerks, and law firms to draft, summarize, and streamline work, with some courts testing predictive tools and sentencing suggestions. Law students learn AI tools, clerks organize files with them, and partners use them to draft documents they later claim to have reviewed. The expansion of AI blurs the line between legal aid and authority and places core pillars—fairness, accountability, and transparency—at risk when machines influence who wins, who loses, and how sentences are determined.
Read at Above the Law
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