Law firms face two camps on AI: replace junior associate work to cut costs or keep hiring because AI increases billable work.
Mike Spivey contrasts an 80% automation claim for first-year tasks with firms' incentive to preserve training investments and partner profits.
insights INSIGHT
Demographic Cliff Threatens Law School Applications
Law schools face a demographic cliff as lower birthrates from the Great Recession shrink future applicant pools in three to four years.
Spivey warns schools must balance expanding now with ethics of admitting students who may face fewer jobs later.
insights INSIGHT
Two Cliffs Could Create A Worst-Case Oversupply
Law schools face two cliffs: rising current enrollment and potential future AI-driven hiring drops, creating a worst-case of more students and fewer jobs.
The preferable alignment is reduced students coinciding with reduced hiring to avoid oversupply.
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The future lawyers of America were taking the LSAT this weekend. But, by the time they get their JDs in a few years, law firms may have replaced many of their entry-level associate jobs with AI. That's a fear Mike Spivey hears a lot about these days.
Spivey is a former law school administrator who is now an admissions consultant working with schools and prospective students. He says law school applications for the class of 2029 are spiking right now—even though AI may totally transform the legal industry by the time they graduate.
Law schools are asking themselves "'Are we admitting people and bringing in large class sizes who, in three to four years, we're setting up to be in great debt? Are we going to have these debt-ridden people without jobs?'" Spivey said on our podcast, On The Merits. "That's the tension."
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