The Miami Law & AI (MiLA) Lab recently hosted its inaugural "Prompting Legal Solutions" event—the first-ever AI Lawyering Conference and Competition. This innovative event created a unique space where the legal community could collectively experiment with AI in practical legal scenarios.
In her welcome address, interim law school dean Patricia Abril emphasized that embracing artificial intelligence requires "urgency, agility, humility, and collaboration" and expressed pride in the law school's pioneering role. "It's not often that you can take something that you've been thinking about for a long time and make it happen now," she noted, highlighting the school's commitment to being at the forefront of legal innovation.
"For centuries, the integration of technology into the legal profession has occurred slowly and gradually, primarily aimed at digitizing attorney's work," said Or Cohen-Sasson, director of the MiLA Lab, in his opening remarks. "Today, we're witnessing fundamental transformation. AI represents a different type of technology that doesn't merely execute our commands but actively participates in our analytical and creative processes. We've moved from tools that extend our capabilities to partners that enhance our intellectual capacity. This shift marks a profound change: from the mere automation of legal tasks to the true augmentation of legal work.
"When planning this event, we noticed something missing in the law and AI landscape," Cohen-Sasson said. "There are many conferences examining theoretical implications or potential risks of AI in the legal field. While these are significant topics, we wanted to create an event where the legal community could learn together, share experiences, and explore the new frontiers of legal tech through practical application. This event—combining talks, workshops, and a hands-on AI competition—is a fantastic opportunity to explore the potential and limits of AI and showcase how the future generation of legal practitioners takes the legal profession to its next phase."
Insights from industry leaders
The conference featured four expert-led panels addressing various dimensions of AI integration in legal practice. Judge Lisa Walsh, J.D. '92, from the 11th Judicial Circuit of Florida, delivered a compelling keynote address—with assistance from ChatGPT—emphasizing AI's proper role in legal work.
"It should go without saying that AI can never be justified as an excuse for laziness," Judge Walsh stated. "AI can never replace your dedication, your immersion, your brainstorming, your turn of phrase, your emotions, your unique and particular genius at connecting to decision makers."
The day's panels explored current AI implementation challenges, its role in legal education, the latest developments in legal tech, and the future of legal practice—the latter moderated by Patricia White, dean emerita of the University of Miami School of Law.
A hands-on workshop on prompt engineering in legal practice provided attendees with practical skills they could immediately implement.
Groundbreaking competition and conference
The event's centerpiece was the AI Lawyering Student Competition, featuring teams from the University of Miami School of Law, St. Thomas University School of Law, Nova Southeastern University's Shepard Broad College of Law, and Florida International University College of Law.
In the first 40-minute round, teams created due diligence documents based on a massive amount of data, especially given the time allocated for the task. The second round challenged finalists to develop an AI agent capable of automating the client intake process. In both cases, the competitors used AI tools to complete the challenges.
The University of Miami team of Brhea D'Mello and Riya Goel claimed first place, with Florida International University's Dax Sotero and Sunny Patel taking second, and Nova Southeastern University's team of Nailah Morris, Johnathan Kramer, and Tomás Borenszteyn finishing third.
Building the future of legal practice
The MiLA Lab, established under Abril's leadership, is an interdisciplinary hub pioneering the frontier of law and AI. The lab is dedicated to advancing research, education, and integration of AI in the legal ecosystem while focusing on responsible and effective implementation of AI in legal settings.
For more information about the MiLA Lab and its initiatives, visit their website, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter, AI-micus.
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