Legal
technology,
like
dealing
drugs,
thrives
on
getting
kids
hooked
on
the
free
sample.
At
least
that’s
what
hundreds
of
hours
worth
of
D.A.R.E.
propaganda
films
taught
me.
It’s
why
law
students
received
Lexis
and
Westlaw
passwords
before
their
dorm
rooms
—
it’s
never
too
early
to
develop
brand
loyalty.
As
3Ls
graduate
into
1st-year
associates
and
start
pulling
all
nighters
on
legal
research,
they
instinctively
log
into
whichever
system
they
learned
in
school.
But
the
new
frontier
in
legal
tech
is
AI,
and
the
arms
race
in
legal
tech
just
hit
the
quad.
Harvey,
the
buzziest
vendor
these
days,
just
announced
partnerships
with
Stanford,
UCLA,
NYU,
and
Notre
Dame.
Notre
Dame
proudly
declared
itself
“the
first”
to
integrate
Harvey
into
its
classrooms,
pretending
the
other
schools
who’ve
done
the
exact
same
thing
don’t
exist
and
that
Notre
Dame’s
contributions
are
magically
more
important
than
any
other
institution’s.
College
football
season
is
so
back!
From
Artificial
Lawyer:
Or,
as
Harvey
put
it:
‘By
making
technology
a
fundamental
part
of
law
school
education,
these
institutions
are
innovators
in
helping
prepare
the
next
generation
of
lawyers
for
careers
where
technology
enables
and
supports
more
of
their
work.’
That
said,
this
isn’t
a
Coke-vs-Pepsi
battle
where
you
can
hand
out
samples
and
call
it
a
day.
It’s
more
like
giving
every
law
student
a
free
Tesla
and
hoping
none
of
them
drive
it
straight
into
a
courthouse
wall.
How
AI
fits
into
the
legal
industry
workflow
—
both
practically
and,
more
importantly,
ethically
—
is
still
up
for
grabs.
Asking
law
students
to
be
test
subjects
is
a
big
deal
and
can
have
long-term
ramifications
for
how
this
stuff
gets
used.
Honestly,
this
is
a
success
even
if
all
this
accomplishes
is
teaching
future
lawyers
to
use
legal-specific
AI
as
opposed
to
giving
ChatGPT
all
your
client’s
now
discoverable
information
so
it
can
hallucinate
up
some
fake
cases.
For
the
last
couple
years,
the
legal
tech
press
corps
have
asked
vendors
if
they
would
start
giving
law
students
free
access
to
AI
tools.
And
the
answers
range
from
flat
refusals
to
hemming
and
hawing
about
“well,
we’ll
see.”
AI
is
expensive
and
providers
seemed
unconvinced
that
the
juice
was
worth
the
squeeze.
But
tokens
keep
getting
cheaper
and,
apparently
Harvey
has
decided
free
samples
have
crossed
into
good
investment
territory.
This
now
puts
the
onus
on
Harvey’s
competitors
—
both
direct
and
not-exactly-direct
—
to
get
in
on
the
youth
market.
Lexis
and
Westlaw
can’t
get
caught
sitting
around
while
the
new
kid
on
the
block
runs
orientation
week.
They’ve
been
playing
the
long
con
since
the
Clinton
administration,
giving
away
millions
in
free
student
access
just
to
make
sure
no
lawyer
over
40
can
file
a
brief
without
a
paid
subscription.
Now
that
the
field
of
battle
has
advanced
to
Lexis+
AI
and
CoCounsel,
it’s
not
enough
to
hook
students
on
the
base
products
alone
anymore…
they
need
to
win
hearts
and
minds
for
their
premium
offerings.
Because
every
good
bubble
requires
companies
running
up
big
bills
tussling
over
market
share
before
it
bursts!
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or
Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a
Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.