How to Use AI as a Summer Associate

Or can you use it at all?

Today’s issue of Standout Summer Associate is a little bit more directive than past issues. That is because it talks about a subject on which I don’t believe there is one best answer but there is one right answer:

Only use generative AI for your summer positions in ways that are consistent with what your firm or organization allows. In other words, ask for permission not forgiveness.

Ok, now here is the (slightly) longer answer. Generative AI is fundamentally changing the practice of law. Study after study confirms that lawyers are increasingly using generative AI tools and clients are increasingly expecting their lawyers to use it. As a result, one would think that using generative AI as a tool is an important part of succeeding as a summer associate in 2025.

But as with any new technology, the adoption of generative AI by law firms and legal organizations is varied. Law firms need to make individualized decisions about what tools to use and when. Therefore you can’t simply do what you think is best. Instead you need to do what your employer thinks is best.

Now, as I’ll talk about in future issues of the newsletter I think learning to use AI tools well will help you standout as a junior lawyer. But for now it is absolutely essential that you use these tools in a way that is consistent with your employers approach. So if you don’t know, ask.

Keep standing out,
Jonah