Global law firm Weil has announced a new two-summer programme, providing law students with the opportunity to study and develop AI tools for legal practice.
The programme will begin in 2027. Over the course of ten weeks the chosen students will work with the firm’s Lawyer Augmented Solutions Engineering and Research (LASER) team on live legal projects, also constructing legal software applications designed to improve how lawyers work, as well as contribute to academic research on AI and law.
Applications are currently being accepted for the 1L summer AI programme from first-year students who are enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school; those accepted will receive offers to return for the 2L Summer Associate Program in 2028. The inaugural participants will be based in New York and will receive compensation in line with Weil’s summer associate programme.
Andrew Simon, Weil’s chief AI and innovation officer, said: “We want these students to be part of the team, doing meaningful work and bringing a fresh perspective.
“The goal isn't to turn them into software engineers, but to help them become lawyers who understand AI well enough to ask better questions, recognise opportunities and work effectively with people who bring different expertise to a problem.”
Jonathon Soler, co-managing partner of Weil, commented that next-generation lawyers are now entering into a period of huge transition in the legal industry.
He added: “There is real value in giving talented law students an opportunity to engage with that change from the outset, not as spectators, but as participants.
“They will learn from our lawyers and technology professionals, and I expect we will learn a great deal from them as well.”
The programme is designed to build on the firm’s previous investment in AI.
The LASER team created its recently launched proprietary AI-powered litigation intelligence platform BenchMark, which analyses available judicial materials, including judgments, hearing transcripts and bench rulings, identifying trends helping lawyers form a litigation strategy.
In August, Weil also announced a strategic partnership with Google Cloud, which is centred around Gemini Enterprise for Legal, Google's AI platform designed specifically for legal work.
The firm said that it is one of the first to adopt the platform, and the collaboration is intended to achieve a greater emphasis on AI literacy, producing more efficient legal work such as automating document reviews and drafting, in order to improve on client service delivery.
Other law firms launching AI-based academic programmes include US firm Reed Smith, which in July announced an AI leadership programme held at Cornell University’s tech campus in New York, to help its partners with advanced understanding of AI strategy, ethics and governance.
And in April, Simmons & Simmons welcomed eight students to its inaugural AI law internship programme. They were given firsthand experience of tech-focused and legal AI roles, working alongside the law firm’s AI professionals on projects shaping AI law and governance.
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