Extract from Brenda Jeffrey’s article “Summer Associates at Baker Botts Learn How to Use AI on the Job”
Summer associates at Baker Botts got some hands-on AI training on a litigation exercise that was impossible to complete under deadline without using artificial intelligence.
“We created the Learning Lab to give summer associates hands-on experience with cutting-edge technology, but did it under time pressure so they would experience how it would work in real time [with] some of the strengths and weaknesses,” said Richard Harper, a New York litigation partner who organized the training along with Houston corporate partner Travis Wofford.
Wofford, chair of the corporate department in Houston and vice chair of the global M&A practice, and Harper, partner-in-charge of the New York office, led the training session this month at a retreat for the firm’s 65 summer associates at a resort near Austin. The two partners are co-chairs of the firm’s AI group.
Harper said the vast majority of the firm’s summer associates arrived with at least some experience with generative AI tools. Despite that, the big question from lawyers and clients is whether AI can replace lawyers.
“At the end of the day, the answer the firm keeps coming back to is you are not going to lose your job as a lawyer to AI, but you will lose your job to lawyers with AI,” Wofford said.
