Plug tech directly into teaching and legal research
Four of the UK’s biggest legal education players — BPP, The University of Law, Oxford University and King’s College London — have teamed up with US tech giant Harvey to bring its AI tools and training into their law courses.
The partnership brings Harvey’s generative AI tools and teaching materials into classrooms, research centres and professional training courses, marking the company’s first formal move into the UK university market after rapid adoption across more than 25 top US law schools.
Harvey builds AI tools for the legal sector, helping lawyers with everyday tasks like contract reviews, due diligence and compliance checks. Its technology is already used by a number of major City firms (including A&O Shearman and Macfarlanes) as well as global businesses looking to speed up their in-house legal work. Backed by big-name investors such as Sequoia and the OpenAI Startup Fund, Harvey has quickly become one of the most recognisable AI providers in the City.
Oxford Uni pointed to the academic benefits of the deal, with Dean John Armour explaining:
“Generative AI is transforming the legal sector. By making generative AI tools available to our faculty members, we empower them to experiment with applying these tools in their research. Through this, we are learning about the capabilities of AI tools and reflecting on the ethics and utility of their deployment in research and for pedagogy.”
ULaw and BPP — which train most of the country’s future lawyers — will use Harvey’s platform in their day-to-day teaching. BPP plans to fold the tech into training for aspiring lawyers, giving students early access to tools already used by Magic Circle and global firms. ULaw is expected to use Harvey to help prepare students for real practice, meaning many SQE candidates could be working with the software long before they start in an office.
At King’s College London, Harvey will slot into the law school’s wider AI skills push, with plans for student workshops, course embeds and joint projects on how AI fits into modern legal work. Professor Dan Hunter said: “Harvey is helping us give every one of our students and staff the opportunity to engage directly with the technologies transforming legal practice, and is a core part of the school’s AI literacy programme.”
Harvey described the UK expansion as an obvious next step. Chief business officer John Haddock said: “The UK’s law schools have a rich history of shaping global legal practice, and their embrace of AI in education sets an exciting precedent for the profession worldwide.”
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