WATCH: ‘Juniors need to teach themselves how to use AI’

Junior lawyers are ready to adopt AI tools into their day-to-day work, but will probably have to teach themselves how to use them, an associate told Future of IP.

Junior lawyers are ready to adopt artificial intelligence (AI) tools into their day-to-day work, but the onus lies with them to learn how to use the technologies effectively.

That’s the view shared by an associate at UK firm Penningtons Manches Cooper, who shared with WIPR the impact of the technology on junior lawyers, as part of attorneys.

Tom Perkins, who works in the firm’s commercial, IP and IT team, shared his perspective on how juniors view AI tools, which are increasingly being adopted by firms keen to benefit from potential labour and time savings.

But a challenge for junior lawyers is that AI is so new—senior lawyers cannot generally train their juniors on how to use it—unlike more established skills such as contract drafting or litigation strategy, said Perkins.

“The senior lawyers themselves are learning AI. So junior lawyers need to research AI, the concepts, and how these solutions might work in their firm, while the industry broadly develops its knowledge of AI and its applications.”

Junior lawyers who don’t understand how to use AI tools will also be left at a disadvantage, warned Perkins, who also shared views on how firms are integrating the technology into their business.