‘The AI Polylemma in Legal Education’ | JSW Centre for the Future of Law Working Paper Series

The JSW Centre for the Future of Law at NLSIU is organising a hybrid presentation by Dr. Rahul Hemrajani, Assistant Professor, and Faculty Director of the Centre, NLSIU. The talk will be held on December 29, 2025, at 4:00 PM IST.

The discussion is part of our series of presentations on contemporary scholarship by leading academics.

Rahul will be discussing his working paper on the nature of AI’s role in legal education. His work focusses on empirical study of the law and judicial processes, and AI’s role in law and legal education, and has been teaching at NLSIU since 2023.

Abstract

The AI Polylemma in Legal Education:
Why Law Schools Cannot Ban, Permit, or Regulate Their Way Out Of Generative AI

The rapid integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence into legal practice has created an acute polylemma for legal education: a situation in which every available policy choice appears simultaneously unavoidable and untenable. Legal education must prepare students for a profession in which the use of AI is highly advantageous, even though such use will inevitably undermine the analytic abilities the profession has historically demanded. It must also do so under conditions in which neither prohibitory policies nor evaluation redesign can materially or realistically limit student’s reliance on AI.

In this paper, using empirical evidence collected from a leading law school in India, including surveys, focus group discussions and interviews, Rahul explores the evidence for these interlocking theses. He argues that these theses are logically incompatible and no coherent educational strategy can resolve the contradictions without sacrificing either professional competence or intellectual rigour. He concludes that legal education stands at an inflection point where reform is no longer viable and more fundamental reconstruction of either pedagogical goals, assessment validity, or professional identity is required.

We invite you to join us for what promises to be an invigorating discussion on the subject of AI in education.