AI and the Law: UMKC Steps Boldly into the Future
UMKC School of Law researchers are positioning the school as a leader in the rapidly evolving field of AI and the law.
By: Rebecca Schier-Akamelu
With generative artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly transforming the legal world, the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law leads in teaching students its benefits and pitfalls.
This spring, UMKC earned the prestigious Carnegie Research 1 (R1) designation, placing it among the top research institutions in the country. The law school also obtained top-100 status from U.S. News and World Report. This recognition, along with forward-thinking faculty members, places UMKC in a position to lead at the intersection of AI and the law. Practical Application and Tools with Purpose
In the law office, AI can be used to perform an array of tasks from answering legal research questions, to automating legal forms, to summarizing lengthy documents, to drafting contracts and briefs. Ayyoub Ajmi (J.D. ’22), associate law library director and director of legal innovation and technology at the UMKC School of Law, views AI as the next logical step in technological growth. In his teaching and research, he focuses on the practical applications of legal AI since many law employers will expect recent graduates to use AI tools.
“I’m trying to align the duty of technology competency to technology in general,” which is a requirement of the Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct, “and AI in particular,” Ajmi said. “I personally feel that bar associations, in general, have always been a little more abstract in that ethical rule.”
While initially some judges banned AI, over the last couple of years it has become more accepted. Looking ahead, Ajmi believes using AI will be essential.
“I think it will be an issue if you’re not using AI, because everybody will expect you to,” Ajmi said.
He is quick to point out the benefits AI brings to the legal field. Given sufficient training, AI can help lawyers increase their productivity. In his classes, Ajmi commonly suggests students use AI for text summarization, writing first drafts and data analysis.
Outside the classroom, AI is increasingly used as a self-help tool. Notably, Ajmi developed the Kansas Protection Order Portal, which allows people to seek protection from abuse by filing online with the assistance of a “smart,” or AI enhanced, legal form. He also worked with the state of Nevada on AI chatbots that provide information about the legal system. While some attorneys may be concerned about AI providing more services, Ajmi argues that AI will ultimately empower lawyers.
“You can't build those tools if you don't have someone who understands the law, understands the processes,” he said. “So, the role of lawyers and law education is still going to be essential.”
Looking ahead, Ajmi predicts that AI will lead to a more tiered approach in law.
“For example,” he said, “I could hire an attorney for limited scope of representation where they help me do something on my own.”
He also thinks UMKC can positively influence how the law is practiced by providing an impartial point of view.
“If someone in the court says, ‘We need to change this,’ they may get some resistance," Ajmi said. "But the fact that this (UMKC) is an outside group creates more acceptance.”
AI in Legal Decision Making
Associate Professor Ryan Copus, who teaches Data, Decisions and Justice, is pushing the legal field to think more critically about how AI is used and what it means for the profession.
“We're already researching the impact of AI on the delivery of legal services,” Copus said. “Not all AI is generative AI. The algorithms are so important to a more accurate processing of information.”
To understand how AI influences legal outcomes, Copus asks students to build an algorithm to predict whether a client would be released on parole.
“They’re terrified at first, but by the end of the semester, most of them are happy to have gotten the exposure and understand what these algorithms look like on the back end,” Copus said.
However, Copus is aware of the potential risks that come with using AI.
“My real concern with generative AI in law firms is that it replaces the introductory work that law students and new lawyers do ... taking away their learning experience of doing routine research, synthesis and analysis,” he said.
However, Copus sees enormous potential for AI to improve students’ approach to coursework. He hopes to run a randomized control trial to give a small sampling of second-semester, first-year law students access to AI office hours.
“We would teach them how to use these tools to better study,” Copus said. “Some students have good success having a verbal conversation with ChatGPT.”
Looking ahead, Copus believes UMKC Law will continue to be a key player in law-related AI research. “We’re more in the space of testing, critiquing and investigating how it gets integrated into society, and we can do a lot of good research around that.”
(L-R) Ryan Copus, Ayyoub Ajmi and Paul Callister are leaders in AI research at UMKC School of Law. (Photo: Esperanza Dunning)
“We’re not talking about the basics anymore. We’re talking about something that could potentially change the way we practice law and communicate with clients."
Ayyoub Ajmi (J.D. ’22), director of legal innovation and technology
Finding the Balance in Research
Professor Paul Callister, director of the Leon E. Bloch Law Library and a long-time scholar of legal research, sees AI’s promise but is keenly aware of its shortcomings. Using AI for research is not always the best course of action.
“AI does a remarkable job two-thirds of the time,” Callister said. “But about 30% of the time, you have problems.”
Ajmi agrees that research may not be the best application for AI.
“In research … there’s no room for error,” Ajmi said. “If you use AI, then you should verify it. If you must verify every single answer, it defeats the purpose of using AI.”
Callister worries that AI may become a cognitive authority.
“We tend to trust technology,” Callister said. “AI is using our language, and we trust things that use our language.”
That is particularly dangerous in law, where attorneys, and more importantly clients, face serious consequences if AI makes a mistake.
"If students and faculty, or lawyers, are not checking research on conventional sources using traditional techniques, they’re opening themselves up to liability or sanctioning by the courts,” Callister said. “We rely a lot on precedent, on cases that interpret the law or the Constitution, and we have to be careful as attorneys that we get it right.”
AI is known to hallucinate, making up cases that have never existed. However, that is not the only issue.
“There have been some large problems with AI, not just making up cases, but what we call stating incorrect holdings (in) cases,” Callister said. “A holding is the point of the rule being applied in the law to the facts to create a resolve.”
Looking Ahead
As AI continues to evolve, UMKC Law is uniquely positioned to lead not only in research, but in shaping the next generation of thoughtful, ethical and tech-savvy attorneys.
Ajmi believes this is just the beginning. “Now that we have AI, it creates even more need for being technology savvy,” he said. “We’re not talking about the basics anymore. We’re talking about something that could potentially change the way we practice law and communicate with clients.”
Dean Emerita Barbara Glesner Fines looks forward to what the law school can achieve.
“(UMKC’s Carnegie R1) designation presents opportunities for increased partnership in research,” Glesner Fines said. “AI and the delivery of legal services is one place where we’re already doing a lot of work and we’re going to see that AI’s impact on decision making is another place where I think we’re going to see some research.”
Make a Difference
Whether you're passionate about technology, justice or education, there's a place for you in this effort. Contributions from alumni help fund faculty research, student initiatives and emerging technologies that prepare graduates for their future.
If you would like to make a greater impact, please contact Marie Dispenza, executive director of the UMKC Law Foundation, with questions or interest at dispenzam@umkc.edu or 816-235-6328.