Pro bono clinics
King’s College London, the City Law School, and BPP have become the first UK law schools to collaborate with Legora, the legal AI tool. The move brings the same grade of the platform used by law firms across the world to students, who will use it for a variety of applications from professional legal training to work completed for pro bono clinics.
Legora has previously partnered with nine US law schools, including Stanford, Northwestern and the University of Chicago, and the UK law schools are some of the first outside the USA to incorporate the program into their educational offering.
In August, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) issued a formal warning notice about the use of generative AIs like Legora, reminding solicitors that they remain responsible for their own work. The SRA also highlighted the problems arising from AI hallucinations on the one hand and waiver of privilege by uploading privileged documents to open source AI on the other. Legora commented on the warning in their press release on the new collaboration, saying “For law schools, AI literacy is becoming less elective and more of a professional obligation.”
For BPP, the focus will be on teaching students to use AI effectively for professional legal practice. Commenting on the move, Jo-Anne Pugh, Dean of BPP Law School said, “BPP is excited to add Legora to the range of AI tools it offers to its students to enhance their professional skills and ensure they are desk-ready for the rapidly evolving AI transformation of modern legal practice”.
Meanwhile at Kings College London and the City Law School, students will be using Legora in pro bono clinics, where they assist real people with a variety of employment, housing, personal injury, and criminal appellate issues. The AI will be used to assist in research, review, and drafting.
Professor Dan Hunter, executive dean of the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London commented:
“AI is transforming the legal profession and our students have to learn how to navigate these changes. I’m proud to work with Legora and thrilled that our student clinics are now able to use Legora to aid those most in need of legal services. This initiative shows how AI can help the underserved in our community, while teaching our students how to take control of their careers.”
Meanwhile the Director of the City Community Legal Advice Centre at The City Law School, Sally Gill, said:
“We’re really pleased to be working with Legora and to allow our students to use legal AI as part of their clinical legal education. For us, it is not just about learning how to use the technology, but understanding when to use it, how to question it and how to exercise proper professional judgement. Those are increasingly important skills for students who will be entering a profession where AI is becoming part of everyday legal practice.”
