Mississippi College School of Law is making AI literacy mandatory for incoming lawyers — a move with clear implications for crypto firms and others that increasingly rely on fast-moving tech and face heavy regulatory and legal scrutiny.
What changed
- The Jackson-based law school now requires every first-year student to complete a certification course on artificial intelligence and the law. The course, announced in October, was designed and is taught by Oliver Roberts, editor-in-chief of AI at The National Law Review and founder of Wickard AI.
- “Whether you like AI or not, I believe you should be learning about it because you can strengthen your arguments for it or against it by learning the foundational concepts of it,” Roberts told Mississippi Today.
Why it matters
- Dean John P. Anderson told Decrypt that law firms hiring their graduates will expect familiarity with AI tools. “The potential benefits of these new technologies as a force multiplier in the practice of law just can’t be ignored,” he said, adding that training students to verify AI outputs and avoid blind reliance is essential to prevent costly mistakes.
- For crypto companies — where disputes over smart contracts, regulatory compliance, and rapid innovation are common — lawyers who understand both AI and the tech landscape will be more valuable. AI can speed research, discovery, and drafting, but it also introduces risks around accuracy, privilege, and due process.
Courts are already wrestling with those risks
- In 2024, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts warned that generative AI can fabricate information and lead lawyers to cite non-existent cases, raising reliability and due-process concerns.
- In February, a federal judge ruled that defendants’ conversations with AI chatbots are not protected by attorney-client privilege and can be admitted as evidence — a decision that led law firms to notify clients and revise some engagement agreements.
- Courts are also experimenting with AI to manage workloads. A Los Angeles Superior Court pilot tested “Learned Hand,” an AI that summarizes filings, organizes evidence, and drafts rulings to help judges handle rising caseloads. “We’re at a place in society where courts are under tremendous strain,” Learned Hand CEO Shlomo Klapper told Decrypt, arguing that AI is “massively dropping the cost of litigation” without replacing human decision-making.
A broader shift in legal education
- Mississippi College School of Law is among the first to mandate AI instruction for all students, joining a growing movement: several law schools now offer AI fundamentals courses, and a March proposal in California would make AI training mandatory for law students statewide.
- The Mississippi course emphasizes responsible, ethical use — teaching students to treat AI as a tool to be validated, not an infallible source.
Bottom line for the crypto world
- As regulators, courts, and law firms adapt to AI, lawyers who can navigate both AI’s capabilities and its pitfalls will be better positioned to advise crypto projects, litigate disputes, and manage compliance risk. Law schools moving early on AI training could change hiring expectations and raise the baseline competency for the next generation of legal tech-savvy counsel.
Editor’s note: This article was updated after publication to include comments from Mississippi College School of Law Dean John P. Anderson.
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