Law schools love to talk about preparing students for the future. But when the future is already showing up at law firms, courts, and clients’ doorsteps, a shiny brochure promising “innovation” isn’t going to cut it. What are schools actually doing to help their graduates keep up?
That’s where National Jurist’s preLaw Magazine comes in. Its latest list recognizes 20 law schools that are reconsidering how students learn, gain experience, and enter the profession. And while artificial intelligence certainly has a seat at the table, this year’s selections suggest that innovation involves more than adding an AI elective and calling it a day.
As we noted in last year’s coverage, prospective students should pay attention to whether schools put their promises into practice. After all, when you’re investing three years of your life — and potentially six figures — in a degree, wanting to graduate prepared to use it seems pretty reasonable.
These are the 20 schools recognized this year, listed in the order they appear in preLaw’s coverage:
- Suffolk University Law School
- North Carolina Central University School of Law
- University of Miami School of Law
- Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
- University of Illinois Chicago School of Law
- Syracuse University College of Law
- Pepperdine University Rick J. Caruso School of Law
- University of Minnesota Law School
- Northeastern University School of Law
- Quinnipiac University School of Law
- Purdue Global Law School
- Jacksonville University College of Law
- University of Massachusetts School of Law Dartmouth
- California Western School of Law
- University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
- Florida State University College of Law
- Lewis & Clark Law School
- Western State College of Law at Westcliff University
- Touro University Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
- Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law
Click here to read about the programs that earned each school a spot.
For prospective students, the useful question is what these opportunities would mean for their own education. Would you get meaningful experience? Could the program accommodate your responsibilities? Would you leave with skills that employers and clients need?
Learning to think like a lawyer remains essential, but in today’s fast-paced tech world, graduates also need the skills to keep up with a profession that’s changing by the day. Getting some preparation for actually being a lawyer should come with the tuition, too.
How 20 innovative law schools are preparing students for the future of law [preLaw Magazine / National Jurist]
Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.
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