Professionalism in law rests on three foundational pillars: a deep and accurate knowledge of legal doctrine and process, the critical thinking skills to apply that knowledge under pressure and uncertainty, and an unwavering commitment to honesty and integrity. While these pillars remain unchanged, the legal profession is changing and so must the approach to preparing students to practice. At the University of Georgia School of Law, we want students to graduate ready to practice—with the knowledge and judgment, the technological competence, and the character on which the legal profession and future clients will depend.
The legal profession increasingly expects new lawyers to be capable, responsible users of AI tools. At the same time, research increasingly shows that reaching for those tools too early—before students have built their own foundation in legal reasoning—will quietly erode the very skills that students come to UGA Law to develop.
The School of Law's goal is to sequence legal education so students graduate with both the deep legal knowledge and sound judgment that define the best legal minds as well as the technological fluency that modern practice requires.
Recently adopted handbook changes supporting this goal
Classroom Electronics Policy
The School of Law wants to create classroom environments that best suit the goals of individual courses. Thus, many classes, especially in the first year, will be fully analog—free of laptops, tablets, and phones, and filled instead with conversation, questions, and the kind of sustained attention that legal reasoning requires. This is now the default rule; however, individual professors may permit (and often will allow or even encourage) devices for specific purposes or courses, particularly where students will be learning to apply AI tools directly. For questions after consulting the syllabus, individual professors can provide clarification.
New handbook policy: “Classroom use of electronic devices, including but not limited to laptops, tablets, and phones, is prohibited unless and to the extent specifically permitted by the instructor or by Accessibility and Testing at the University of Georgia.” University of Georgia School of Law, Student Handbook 2026–27, Classroom Policies
Technological Competence Requirement
The School of Law wants graduates to be genuinely prepared to work with AI tools—able to use these tools well, understand their limits, and meet the professional responsibility standards that govern the technology use in practice. Building that technological competency requires the same intentional, sequenced instruction that will shape all UGA Law curricular choices. Beginning with the class entering in fall 2026 (i.e., Class of 2029), every J.D. student must complete a course that satisfies the new technological competence requirement. This will be in addition to the AI training already built into the first-year legal research course.
New handbook policy: “All students must successfully complete a course that fulfills the technological competence requirement. A list of qualifying courses will be published prior to each registration period.” University of Georgia School of Law, Student Handbook 2026–27, Technological Competence Requirement
Reminder: UGA Academic Honesty Policy - Prohibited Conduct“Never use Artificial Intelligence on an assignment unless it is explicitly authorized by your instructor before the assignment is turned in.” University of Georgia, Academic Honesty Policy — Prohibited Conduct
Within this default rule, there is room to use AI thoughtfully at the margins, perhaps to study or to brainstorm, if it is not expressly prohibited by the professor. Remember, presenting AI-generated text as your own original work is a matter of academic dishonesty, no different in principle from submitting a classmate’s outline or a treatise passage without attribution. Building on the policies established by the University of Georgia, the School of Law considers such actions to constitute plagiarism, which the School of Law Handbook defines as “the submission of another’s work as one’s own.” Every student is expected to know the plagiarism policy.
All policies will be revisited on a regular basis.
Examples of Legal Technology/Gen AI courses on offer for 2026-27
The following upper-level courses are representative of the types of classes that will fulfill the new Technological Competence Requirement. Qualifying courses will generally do one of two things: provide a substantive grounding in what the technology is and what it might mean for society and the profession, or teach how to use it within a specific area of practice, alongside the professional standards that govern that use. School of Law faculty are building on existing Law and AI offerings, as well as the ways in which AI is already being woven into many clinics and seminars and the first-year legal research course.
- Law and Artificial Intelligence
- Technology Skills for Legal Practice
- Advanced Legal Research
- AI, Law and Ethics
- Business Law Research
- Intellectual Property Research
- Environmental Law Research
- Administrative Regulation Research
Current professors teaching Legal Technology/Gen AI courses
- Associate Professor Christian Turner
- Assistant Professor María P. Angel*
- Assistant Professor Mateusz “Matt” Blaszczyk*
- Research Services Librarian Brandy Ellis
- Instruction and Faculty Services Librarian Melissa McCall
- Associate Director for Instruction and Access Services Heather Simmons
- Associate Director for Research Services Sarah C. Slinger
- Clinical Services and Research Librarian Amy Taylor
- Law and Technology Librarian Jason Tubinis
- Student Engagement Librarian Anjelica C. Violi
- Digital Initiatives and Technology Librarian Tim Wilson
* Starting 2026-27 academic year
Co-curricular/extracurricular technology offerings
- Georgia Journal of Law and Technology
- Student groups: Privacy and Technology Law Society, Intellectual Property Law Society
Other opportunities for technology learning and experimentation
- Lunch and Learns
- Bootcamps
- Hackathons
- Partial-term courses
Recent faculty technology-related scholarship and activities
- Associate Professor Christian Turner has been selected as an AI and Society Fellow. As part of the Center for AI Safety fellowship, he will conduct research in AI governance and collaborate with academics in law, economics, international relations and adjacent fields for three months in San Francisco, California.
- Dean Usha R. Rodrigues presented as part of the Embracing Efficiency, Ethics, and Equity in Law School Leadership Using AI Deans Workshop at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools 2026 Annual Meeting.
- Stembler Family Distinguished Professor in Business Law Christopher M. Bruner published “Delaware AI Company Proposal Needs Details Before Road Testing” (with S.A. Gramitto Ricci and M. Petrin) in Bloomberg Law on 8/3/26.
- Chaffin Chair in Fiduciary Law Victoria J. Haneman presented as part of the Screens in the Law School Classroom: Perspectives on Technology, Learning, and Pedagogy panel at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools 2026 Annual Meeting.
- Associate Professor Christian Turner recently visited the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs in Tbilisi, Georgia, to train faculty and staff in artificial intelligence and assist with the development of a framework to govern AI policy and usage at the university. The week-long trip was made possible by the University Capacity Building Program, administered by American Councils for International Education and funded by the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi.
- Assistant Professor Mateusz “Matt” Blaszczyk published “Courts won’t settle the fight over AI and creative work: Politics will” in Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
- Associate Professor Christian Turner co-authored “Attorneys and AI: How Lawyers Use Artificial Intelligence and Analyze Its Impacts” in Proceedings of the ACM on the Human-Computer Interaction.
- Associate Professor Matthew I. Hall co-authored “Attorneys and AI: How Lawyers Use Artificial Intelligence and Analyze Its Impacts” in Proceedings of the ACM on the Human-Computer Interaction.
- Assistant Professor Assaf Harpaz presented “Artificial Intelligence and Taxation’s Goals” as part of the Mizzou Tax Law Policy Colloquium at the University of Missouri.
AI law, policy, governance and ethics interdisciplinary law school events
- September kickoff event with AI Institute at UGA
- Spring research symposium
School of Law Faculty AI Committee
A seven-member team led by Associate Professor Christian Turner. Other 2026-27 team members are: Assistant Professor María P. Angel, Assistant Professor Mateusz "Matt" Blaszczyk, Assistant Professor John B. Meixner Jr., Senior Lecturer Travis M. Trimble, Law and Technology Librarian Jason Tubinis, Assistant Dean for Career Development Tony Waller (ex officio)
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