How AI-Powered Legal Assistants are Transforming Entry-Level Legal Work

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming nearly every aspect of legal work in 2025, from research to client communication. Nowhere is this transformation more apparent than at the junior level, where AI-powered legal assistants are reshaping the types of tasks law firms delegate to entry-level attorneys. While these tools offer unprecedented efficiency and scale, they are also creating new questions about skill development, quality control, and ethical boundaries. This article explores how AI is changing junior legal work, using real examples and highlighting both opportunities and challenges that junior attorneys must navigate.

From Billables to Bots: Where AI Is Being Deployed

AI tools are now widely used in legal research, document review, contract analysis, and litigation support. Legal tech startups like Harvey AI, which provides ChatGPT-style legal support tools trained on case law, have gained significant traction. As of spring 2025, Harvey AI has already reached a valuation of $5 billion and works with over 15 of the world’s top law firms, including A&O Shearman and PwC Legal.

These tools can conduct first-pass document reviews, redline contracts, and even draft memos on legal principles. Firms that used to assign junior associates to spend hours conducting keyword research in Lexis or Westlaw are now offloading that work to AI tools with built-in natural language search capabilities.

What This Means for Junior Associates

This automation reshapes the traditional legal apprenticeship model. Juniors are getting less exposure to rote but educational tasks like document review, and more responsibility for client communication, drafting, and decision-making based on AI-prepared outlines. For example, at Orrick, junior attorneys report that instead of performing first-level reviews, they’re now expected to QA and contextualize the results that AI generates.

Some firms are concerned this shift may lead to gaps in foundational knowledge. Others see it as a necessary evolution, freeing juniors to hone more complex and strategic skills earlier in their careers. Either way, the change is significant.

Oversight, Ethics, and the Limits of Automation

Despite its promise, AI still makes mistakes. A recent example involved lawyers in California sanctioned for filing an AI-generated brief riddled with fake case citations—a situation that underscored the importance of human oversight. As a result, many firms are now developing internal policies for reviewing AI work product, mandating that attorneys validate facts and citations before submission.

In response, firms like Latham & Watkins have created "AI liaison" roles for senior associates tasked with ensuring the responsible use of generative tools, blending tech fluency with legal acumen.

New Skills, New Training Models

To keep up, law firms and law schools are shifting their training models. Firms are offering internal CLEs and tech bootcamps to help lawyers integrate AI effectively into their workflows. Some law schools, including Northwestern and Suffolk University, now offer courses specifically focused on legal AI, data privacy, and digital ethics.

At one V10 firm, incoming associates receive a “technology toolkit” orientation that includes sessions on document automation tools and contract review platforms. The goal is to ensure that even junior lawyers understand how AI fits into the broader legal workflow.

Strategic Implications for Job Seekers

For law students and lateral candidates, familiarity with legal AI tools can be a competitive advantage. Listing experience with tools like Kira Systems, Lexis+ AI, or Spellbook on your resume signals adaptability and tech competence. Lateral hiring trends in 2025 show firms prioritizing candidates who are comfortable with hybrid roles—lawyers who can perform substantive work but also know how to manage or audit technology tools.

Knowing how to critically evaluate AI-generated work is becoming as important as knowing how to draft it yourself. Strategic thinkers who can harness AI to make better legal decisions—not just faster ones—will thrive in the current landscape.

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AI-powered legal assistants are no longer a novelty—they're a foundational part of modern legal practice. For junior attorneys, this represents both an opportunity and a challenge: the chance to accelerate into more meaningful work sooner, but also the responsibility to uphold the profession’s ethical and analytical standards amid rapid change. As firms continue to adopt these tools, the attorneys who succeed will be those who not only know the law, but also know how to supervise their AI colleagues.