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Mitchell Hamline Law Review

Publication Information

52 Mitchell Hamline Law Review 240 (2025)

Abstract

As artificial intelligence transforms the legal profession, the role of critical thinking skills among legal professionals becomes increasingly vital. This Essay argues that while AI will automate many routine le-gal tasks, successful legal practice in the AI era will require lawyers to possess robust critical thinking abilities to effectively evaluate AI out-puts, develop strategic solutions, and handle complex analytical work that AI cannot replicate. However, at this crucial juncture, evidence suggests a significant deficit in critical thinking skills among incoming law students. This deficit poses particular challenges as the legal profes-sion increasingly integrates generative AI tools that can handle routine legal tasks but require human oversight and evaluation. This Essay examines the intersection of AI technology, critical thinking skills, and legal education. It begins by analyzing the current state of AI in legal practice, with particular attention to generative AI’s capabilities and limitations. The Essay then explores the nature of criti-cal thinking, including both its cognitive skills and dispositional com-ponents, and explains why these skills are essential for legal practice in the AI era. Finally, the Essay addresses the current critical thinking deficit among law students and proposes that law schools must take a more focused approach to developing these crucial skills. This includes reconsidering traditional assessment methods that may allow students to use AI tools in ways that circumvent the development of essential critical thinking abilities. The Essay concludes that law schools must adapt their curricula and teaching methods to ensure graduates possess the critical thinking skills necessary to practice law effectively in an AI-augmented legal landscape.

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