Interest in legal tech is also reflected in the law school education field. Some law schools have formally established related courses or introduced legal tech education in various ways, such as participating in the development of legal artificial intelligence (AI) services in collaboration with engineering college laboratories. Law students responded, “Although the use of legal tech in academic work itself is limited, legal tech education will help build practical skills in preparation for the advancement of AI.”
Hanyang University Opens Regular Course
Hanyang University Law School established a practical legal tech course starting in 2023. This class was offered as an elective practical course for first-year students, separate from the mandatory course ‘Legal Information Research.’ In 2023, 20 law students who took this course attended classes focused on AI-related legal and policy issues and wrote papers. The course covered legal issues such as personal data protection law problems arising from AI’s data use and learning, as well as data bias.
This course became an opportunity for some students to achieve awards. They won the grand prize at the Korea Intelligent Information Society Agency (NIA)’s Large-scale AI Idea Contest with a paper titled ‘Public Legal Tech Service - Web-based Terms Summary and Review Service.’ The Hanyang University Institute of Law also published academic papers in the ‘Law Review’ on topics such as ‘Rape Crime Case Analysis through LDA Topic Modeling’ and ‘Review of AI Introduction in Trademark Similarity Judgment.’
In 2024, this course expanded into a project class where law students collaborate with graduate students from Hanyang University’s College of Engineering to create legal tech prototypes. Through the project, students planned legal tech services addressing practical issues, such as ▲a service that automatically reviews whether legal requirements are met during police investigation stages and ▲a legal requirement guidance service for individuals conducting pro se litigation. A Hanyang University law student who took the course and planned the service said, “We went through an in-depth analysis of the structure of court rulings to build legal AI data,” adding, “It was an opportunity to further expand my studies.”
Sogang University Develops AI Service in Collaboration with Engineering College
There is also a case where law students started developing AI services in collaboration with an engineering college laboratory. Law students belonging to the Sogang University Law School AI Law Society are participating in the Ministry of Science and ICT’s ‘Explainable AI Service’ development project in cooperation with the Sogang University Department of Computer Science laboratory. In the process of developing a legal AI service that reviews corporate articles of incorporation, they evaluate whether the clauses and precedents provided by the research model are appropriate and provide legal information sites that the model can refer to.
Yonsei University and Sungkyunkwan University Also Include Legal Tech in Courses
The Legal Education Council is actively discussing legal tech education programs at the law school level. The council signed memorandums of understanding (MOUs) related to legal AI education with L-Box and Law&Company in November 2024 and February 2025, respectively. L-Box will provide education to 24 out of 25 law schools nationwide in 2025. Eight schools, including Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University, and Wonkwang University, have completed education by partially including legal tech content in their regular courses. Law&Company is also in discussions with the Legal Education Council to plan new services and legal AI education courses for law schools starting in the first semester of 2025.
Students Say “Legal Tech Is an Essential Competency”
Law students’ reactions are positive. Although they rarely use legal tech immediately at school, they see it as a competency that legal professionals must have. A law student who took Hanyang University’s practical legal tech course said, “I saw the increasing use of AI in the legal market even before entering school,” adding, “Although only some functions like case summary are used in academics so far, as AI advances rapidly in practice, students have started taking classes with a clear purpose to prepare.” Another student in the same class said, “The practical environment will change a lot with AI adoption, so I took the class to adapt more quickly to the changed environment,” adding, “It was an opportunity to learn how to use AI as a legal professional and to understand the legal issues in advance.” A student from a metropolitan area law school also said, “Legal tech is gradually being recognized as one of the practical competencies for legal professionals, so it cannot be overlooked.”
Professor Park Hye-jin (44, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 37), who is in charge of the legal tech course at Hanyang University Law School, said, “Students’ attitudes toward technology have changed dramatically in just two years,” adding, “Previously, the approach was more interest-based, but now there is a growing sense of the necessity to understand technology and accept AI as a practical skill.” Professor Park also said, “Even though this course is not directly related to the bar exam, students are actively participating,” adding, “Thanks to the encouragement and help of fellow professors, we have achieved meaningful results.”
However, there are opinions that a cautious approach is necessary for introducing legal tech education. Professor Lee Jin-gi of Sungkyunkwan University Law School said, “The core when using AI services is the ‘quality and quantity’ of information, and ultimately, the legal knowledge of the person asking questions is most important,” adding, “Considering the essence of legal education, basic legal interpretation and judgment abilities should be prioritized.”
Seo Ha-yeon, Legal Times Reporter
※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.
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