The Association of American Law Schools (AALS) and West Academic, a BARBRI company, announced a new multiyear strategic partnership aimed at deepening the legal academy’s engagement with artificial intelligence (AI). This collaboration, revealed during the 2026 AALS Annual Meeting in New Orleans, will focus on three initiatives: a national webinar series, developing online resources related to AI, and research on faculty and student attitudes toward AI.
Drawing upon West Academic’s standing as a provider of legal education content and tools and AALS’ 125 years of expertise bringing law faculty together, the collaboration seeks further understanding about how AI is reshaping legal education and the legal profession as well as equip academic leaders with the tools and insights to navigate this transformation.
Designed for deans, faculty, and administrators, the webinars will provide practical insights and foster dialogue on the challenges and opportunities that AI presents. The series will feature leading experts from law schools and the legal profession on several topics including: approaches to integrating AI into curriculum; risks and limitations of AI; emerging tools; promoting professional readiness; and ethics, regulation, and policy.
Complementing the webinars, the two organizations will develop online resources offering examples of how law schools are responding to AI including pedagogical shifts, ethical considerations, and best practices in institutional policies and planning.
The two groups also plan to collaborate on new research related to perspectives on AI within legal education and the legal profession. This effort seeks to explore attitudes across key stakeholder groups—faculty, students, administrators, and practitioners—to understand how AI is reshaping teaching, learning, and practice-readiness. The research will explore faculty confidence, student trust and use of AI tools, administrator policy decisions, and practitioner expectations—helping identify gaps and guide schools in preparing students for an AI-driven profession. Together, AALS and West Academic aim to provide actionable insights that inform policy, pedagogy, and professional standards in an era of rapid technological change.
Drawing upon West Academic’s standing as a provider of legal education content and tools and AALS’ 125 years of expertise bringing law faculty together, the collaboration seeks further understanding about how AI is reshaping legal education and the legal profession as well as equip academic leaders with the tools and insights to navigate this transformation.
Designed for deans, faculty, and administrators, the webinars will provide practical insights and foster dialogue on the challenges and opportunities that AI presents. The series will feature leading experts from law schools and the legal profession on several topics including: approaches to integrating AI into curriculum; risks and limitations of AI; emerging tools; promoting professional readiness; and ethics, regulation, and policy.
Complementing the webinars, the two organizations will develop online resources offering examples of how law schools are responding to AI including pedagogical shifts, ethical considerations, and best practices in institutional policies and planning.
The two groups also plan to collaborate on new research related to perspectives on AI within legal education and the legal profession. This effort seeks to explore attitudes across key stakeholder groups—faculty, students, administrators, and practitioners—to understand how AI is reshaping teaching, learning, and practice-readiness. The research will explore faculty confidence, student trust and use of AI tools, administrator policy decisions, and practitioner expectations—helping identify gaps and guide schools in preparing students for an AI-driven profession. Together, AALS and West Academic aim to provide actionable insights that inform policy, pedagogy, and professional standards in an era of rapid technological change.
