Undisclosed fee
Legal education giant BARBRI has bought an AI training platform founded by a former BigLaw lawyer, in a move it says will help build “AI fluency” among law students and trainee lawyers.
The SQE prep provider has acquired Lega, a platform that teaches law students, lawyers and law firms through hands-on exercises in which they build applications rather than simply being shown existing tools. BARBRI has not disclosed how much it paid.
Founded in 2023, Lega runs a generative AI lab where users experiment and build apps and has delivered AI workshops for law firms and at legal tech conferences, while its founder and CEO, Christian Lang — who worked at the US law firm Davis Polk before moving into legal tech — joins BARBRI as head of innovation, overseeing the company’s AI training for students and partners.
The two companies say they plan to expand experiential AI workshops, simulations, hackathons and lab-style sessions that bring lawyers and students together around real legal problems, with Lega’s tools to be integrated across Barbri’s courses.
“Lega brings a highly practical model that helps learners move from AI awareness to AI fluency,” said Lucie Allen, co-CEO of BARBRI. “Together, we are committed to equipping law schools, law firms, and legal professionals for an AI-driven profession.”
Lang added:
“We built Lega around a simple belief: legal professionals need safe, practical, hands-on ways to explore what AI makes possible,” said Christian Lang, Founder and CEO, Lega. “Through our work with firms, schools, and legal teams, we’ve learned that success isn’t about finding the right AI tool. It’s about building the fluency, judgment, and confidence to use AI effectively. Joining BARBRI means we can bring experiential AI learning to every law school, every firm, and every professional ready to lead what comes next.”
Law schools have been grappling with how to prepare their students for a legal profession that increasingly relies on AI.
Last year, BPP Law School, The University of Law, Oxford University and KCL partnered with US firm Harvey to bring its AI tools and training into their courses. Law firms, meanwhile, continue to pour money into the technology, with Kirkland & Ellis recently announcing it has set aside an eye-watering $500 million (£370 million) to build its own in-house AI tools.