Mind The (Skills) Gap: AI And Legal Education With Sam Moore

In Season 9, Episode 3 of Notes to My (Legal) Self, I had the pleasure of speaking with Sam Moore, Senior Director of Innovation at SkillBurst Interactive (acquired by BARBRI). Sam’s mission is clear: to help attorneys bridge the gap between technology and practice. In this episode, we explored the skills lawyers need to embrace the AI revolution and the evolving landscape of legal tech education.

Why Lawyers Struggle with Tech Adoption

Sam shared a relatable story about his days as a “floor walker” in law firms, helping lawyers navigate unfamiliar technology. The root issue? Lawyers are often asked to use tools they had no role in designing, leading to friction and resentment. The resistance stems not from laziness but from a lack of agency and understanding.

“People aren’t doing anything wrong,” Sam emphasized. “They just could be doing some things better.”

This insight highlights the importance of empathy in introducing new tools. Lawyers need clear reasons for change—reasons that connect to their personal success and comfort, not just abstract benefits for clients or firms.

AI: Different From Other Legal Tech

Generative AI (GenAI) tools like ChatGPT are reshaping the way lawyers think about technology. Sam identified three reasons why GenAI stands out:

1. Enthusiasm: Unlike previous tech rollouts (e.g., e-signature solutions), AI excites people. It’s a topic they discuss outside of work, reflecting its pervasive appeal.
2. Invasiveness: GenAI isn’t a standalone tool; it integrates into daily workflows, popping up in Microsoft Office, Slack, and other platforms. This omnipresence demands attention.
3. Data Accessibility: AI gives lawyers new ways to query and analyze data, transforming raw information into actionable insights without requiring deep technical expertise.

Sam’s key advice: Firms should embrace this enthusiasm while addressing nervousness with clear guidelines and safe experimentation.

Adoption Challenges: Losing Control and Gaining Insight

The invasive nature of GenAI can leave lawyers feeling out of control. Features like auto-summarization in Microsoft Teams or transcription in Zoom may appear without warning, creating uncertainty.

Sam compared it to driving a car where new buttons mysteriously appear on the dashboard: “Am I supposed to push that? What does it do?”

To mitigate this, Sam stressed the importance of education. Lawyers need to understand GenAI’s strengths and limitations—such as its occasional struggles with dates or deadlines—so they can use it confidently and responsibly.

Data as an Untapped Opportunity

One of the most exciting applications of GenAI is its ability to unlock the value of private legal data. Sam shared a personal anecdote about spending a day and a half manually identifying contracts affected by the collapse of a major UK contractor. Today, GenAI could complete that task in minutes, summarizing relevant files and allowing lawyers to focus on high-value analysis.

For legal practitioners, this means they can:

• Serve clients more efficiently.
• Generate new workstreams, such as advising on risks revealed by data analysis.
• Enhance their value proposition by offering insights that were previously inaccessible.

Reimagining Legal Education: What Stays, What Goes

The skills gap isn’t just a problem for law students—it’s an issue at every stage of a legal career. Sam argued for a rebalancing of priorities in legal education:

1. What to Drop: Practice-specific skills like drafting corporate meeting minutes or wills. These can be learned on the job when relevant.
2. What to Add: Transferable skills like critical thinking and empathy. Sam stressed that understanding the “why” behind a task is as important as executing it.

Empathy, in particular, is often overlooked in legal education. While it’s not traditionally seen as a teachable skill, Sam believes exposure to other industries (like healthcare) and creative activities (like role-playing games) can help lawyers develop it.

Showing Up: A Skill for All Stages of Your Career

Sam’s advice for lawyers at any career stage is deceptively simple: Show up. Attend seminars, engage in discussions, and explore new tools. The willingness to learn and adapt is a skill that transcends technology and ensures lawyers remain relevant in a rapidly changing profession.

“Never think you’ve learned everything you need to learn,” Sam said. “Keep showing up.”

Key Takeaways

• Experiment Safely: If you haven’t tried GenAI, start with a simple, low-risk task—ask ChatGPT to summarize a topic or suggest a dinner recipe.
• Embrace Data: GenAI can help lawyers unlock insights from their private data, creating new opportunities for efficiency and client service.
• Focus on Skills: Critical thinking, empathy, and a commitment to lifelong learning are the most valuable tools in any lawyer’s arsenal.

Final Thought

As AI continues to transform the legal profession, it’s essential to approach this new era with curiosity and courage. Start small, stay informed, and never stop showing up. The future of law isn’t about replacing lawyers—it’s about empowering them to do more.

Olga V. Mack is a Fellow at CodeX, The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics, and a Generative AI Editor at law.MIT. Olga embraces legal innovation and had dedicated her career to improving and shaping the future of law. She is convinced that the legal profession will emerge even stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive than before by embracing technology. Olga is also an award-winning general counsel, operations professional, startup advisor, public speaker, adjunct professor, and entrepreneur. She authored Get on Board: Earning Your Ticket to a Corporate Board Seat, Fundamentals of Smart Contract Security, and  Blockchain Value: Transforming Business Models, Society, and Communities. She is working on three books: Visual IQ for Lawyers (ABA 2024), The Rise of Product Lawyers: An Analytical Framework to Systematically Advise Your Clients Throughout the Product Lifecycle (Globe Law and Business 2024), and Legal Operations in the Age of AI and Data (Globe Law and Business 2024). You can follow Olga on LinkedIn and Twitter @olgavmack.

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