Have you ever wondered whether the newest AI tool is helping your legal team think better or just move faster without enough reflection? Many in-house lawyers feel that tension right now. They see pressure to use generative AI, but they also know speed means very little if judgment starts to slip. In this discussion, the importance of AI literacy for lawyers becomes very clear.
That question came up clearly in a recent conversation with Linsey Krolik, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law and a former in-house lawyer at companies including PayPal. Lindsay has lived both sides of this shift. She now teaches students how to be useful on day one, while watching legal teams and law schools wrestle with AI in real time. Clearly, understanding AI literacy for lawyers is pivotal for adapting to these changes.
Watch the full conversation with Linsey Krolik here:
Why AI Literacy Matters
Her most useful point was simple. Lawyers and law students are already using generative AI, whether institutions feel comfortable admitting it or not. That makes hesitation risky. If people are experimenting in the dark, without guidance, the real danger is not the tool itself. The danger is poor judgment, misplaced trust, and weak habits forming before leaders step in. In-house legal teams cannot afford that. They need lawyers who know when AI helps, when it misfires, and when it should stay out of the room. For all these reasons, gaining AI literacy for lawyers matters more than ever.
For in-house counsel, AI literacy is quickly becoming more important than AI hype. You do not need to become a machine learning expert. You do need to understand what a large language model does well, where it hallucinates, and why confidentiality, verification, and supervision still belong to you. That matters in product counseling, privacy work, contract review, knowledge management, and every setting where business partners expect fast answers. The lawyer’s job is not to worship the tool or reject it. The job is to use it responsibly, making sure that lawyers increase their AI literacy as part of staying effective.
How Law Schools Shape Better In-House Lawyers
This is why Lindsay’s perspective on legal education matters so much. Law schools still teach foundational reasoning, writing, and analysis, and they should. A blank page still has value. Students still need to learn how to think before they learn how to prompt. But ignoring generative AI entirely no longer makes sense. The better path is guided exposure. Let students test the tools, disclose their inputs and outputs, examine whether the result actually helped, and learn where the technology adds value and where it quietly weakens legal thinking. Furthermore, incorporating AI literacy for lawyers into legal education provides vital skills for the future workforce.
That approach is useful for legal departments too. Teams do not need a perfect AI policy before they start learning. They need a culture that encourages curiosity, sets boundaries, and reminds lawyers that competence does not disappear when software enters the room. If anything, competence matters more. The faster the tool becomes, the more disciplined the human must become. That is the part many organizations miss when they focus only on efficiency. Ultimately, AI literacy for lawyers should be a core aspect of ongoing training for these teams.
Start Small and Learn in Public
A first step is small. Rewrite your bio with an AI tool. Compare a draft policy answer against your own. Ask how a chatbot handles an internal question. Then look closely at what went right, what felt off, and what still required a lawyer. That kind of low stakes experimentation builds judgment without putting clients or data at risk. The takeaway is simple. In-house lawyers do not need to become AI experts overnight. They need to become curious, careful, and willing to learn before the technology outpaces confidence. To sum up, embracing AI literacy for lawyers starts with these incremental steps and ongoing learning.
Watch the full conversation here: Notes to My (Legal) Self: Season 11, Episode 9 (ft.Linsey Krolik)
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