Staff Profile Pages

Law school 2026: what to teach, how to teach, how to assess

Authors: Brownsword, R., Somsen, H.

Journal: Law Innovation and Technology

Publication Date: 01/01/2026

eISSN: 1757-997X

ISSN: 1757-9961

DOI: 10.1080/17579961.2026.2735760

Abstract:

In this article, we highlight our editorial interest in the pedagogical and practical challenges that law schools face as generative AI tools are routinely available in digital environments. Arguably, if there is a ‘crisis’ in law schools, its epi-centre is in relation to assessment: the question is whether student reliance on AI tools should be permitted and, if so, whether it is possible to detect breaches of the assessment rules. However, we suggest that we cannot meaningfully discuss assessment practice without also debating what the law schools should be teaching and how they should be teaching students. For too long, the law school mission has been uncritically articulated in terms of training students ‘to think like lawyers’. Even before the latest AI tools, emerging technologies had sown the seeds of disruption. In 2026, the law schools might still express their mission in the traditional way but the pedagogic questions prompted by AI tools demand a more searching understanding. In our digital time, the question is: what does it mean ‘to think like a lawyer’? And, for law schools, the questions are: what to teach, how to teach, and how to assess?.

Source: Scopus