08/07/2026
Should law schools prohibit students from using AI?
A new essay in Jurist News from Donald B. Tobin, JD, the Gordon, Wolf & Carney Professor of Law at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and Maryland Carey Law student Samuel Irwin, argues that broad bans on AI use in legal education may leave students less prepared for the realities of legal practice.
The authors write that while some assignments may appropriately limit AI use, law schools should focus on helping students develop the judgment and critical thinking skills needed to evaluate AI-generated work rather than banning the technology altogether.
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into legal research, drafting, and professional practice, they argue that supervised classroom use may better prepare future lawyers to understand both the opportunities and risks of these tools.
Berkeley Law's near-total default ban on student AI use gets the pedagogy exactly backward, Univ. of Maryland law professor and his student argue.