AI Sidebar

AI may be creating new paths to success in law, but could it also make traditional credentials more valuable?
In this episode of AI Sidebar, Irene Liu talks with Alex Su, president of Latitude and one of the legal industry’s most recognizable voices on social media, about how AI is reshaping legal careers and traditional measures of success. Drawing on his own journey from Big Law to legal tech and business leadership, Su explains why prestigious credentials may remain a valuable “golden ticket” as new career opportunities emerge. Irene and Alex explore the rise of flexible legal talent, new roles in AI and legal engineering, and why building a fulfilling career means looking beyond status to find work that aligns with your strengths and passions.
Learn more about the Stanford Law School AI Initiative
Irene Liu, Executive Director of the Stanford Law School AI Initiative
Connect with Alex Su
Learn more about Latitude
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:01:21) From Big Law to Legal Tech
(00:04:12) Building a Personal Brand
(00:07:04) Rethinking Legal Prestige
(00:09:22) Is Big Law Still the Golden Ticket?
(00:13:09) Why Traditional Credentials Still Matter
(00:16:58) New Career Paths and Flexible Legal Talent
(00:20:26) Emerging AI Roles for Lawyers
(00:24:03) Choosing a Career Beyond Prestige
(00:30:23) New Opportunities in the AI Era
(00:32:04) AI Skills and Legal Engineering
(00:35:20) Career Advice and Personal Fulfillment
(00:38:44) Conclusion

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$500 million to build, not buy. What does Kirkland & Ellis’s massive AI investment signal about the future of law firms?
In this episode of AI Sidebar, Irene Liu talks with Erica Berthou, a member of Kirkland & Ellis’s Global Executive Committee and co-head of Global Fundraising and Fund Transactions, about the firm’s ambitious AI investment. Irene and Erica explore why Kirkland chose to build rather than buy, what that decision means for legal work, lawyer training, and client pricing, and whether proprietary AI could become a defining competitive advantage for law firms.
Learn more about the Stanford Law School AI Initiative
Irene Liu, Executive Director of the Stanford Law School AI Initiative
Connect with Erica Berthou.
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:01:20) Kirkland’s Investment: Why Build Instead of Buy?
(00:05:15) Palantir’s Advantages
(00:06:48) Capturing Lawyers’ Expertise and Judgment in Graphing
(00:08:53) Building Proprietary Legal Technology
(00:10:47) Investing in Legal Engineers and Talent
(00:12:02) Leadership, Culture, and AI Strategy
(00:14:08) Firm-wide Adoption and Client Response
(00:15:20) Change Management and Junior Lawyers
(00:18:17) How AI Will Change Legal Training
(00:21:14) AI and the Future of the Billable Hour
(00:23:50) Competitive Advantages Across Law Firms
(00:26:42) Measuring the Success of Kirkland’s AI Strategy
(00:29:02) Conclusion

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What does it mean to build the next generation of legal technology when law firms, legal teams, and AI companies are all rethinking what lawyers can do?
In this episode of AI Sidebar, Irene Liu talks with Jason Boehmig, who leads Astra for Law, OpenAI’s legal vertical. Before joining OpenAI, Boehmig founded Ironclad, one of the companies that helped reshape modern legal technology.
Together, they discuss the evolution of legal tech and the future of AI in law. Boehmig reflects on the rise of legal engineering, the launch of Astra for Law, and what “AGI for law” could mean in practice. Irene and Jason also explore why keeping lawyers in the loop matters as AI becomes more capable, and how these tools could help lawyers deliver better service, expand access to legal help, and focus more on the judgment and guidance at the heart of lawyering.
Learn more about the Stanford Law School AI Initiative
Irene Liu, Executive Director of the Stanford Law School AI Initiative
Connect with Jason
Learn more about Astra for Law

Chapters:
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:00:59) From Ironclad to OpenAI
(00:02:47) Legal Tech’s Evolution
(00:07:01) Law Firms and Legal Teams as Builders
(00:08:43) Introducing Astra for Law
(00:14:49) Early Access and Legal Tech Partners
(00:15:26) Accuracy, Trust, and Human Review
(00:18:44) Why Build at the Model Layer?
(00:21:09) The Rise of Legal Engineering
(00:28:56) Building AGI for Law
(00:31:08) Keeping Lawyers at the Center
(00:32:11) The Most Exciting Part of Building Astra for Law
(00:33:31) Conclusion

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As frontier AI becomes more powerful, how can society balance its extraordinary promise with the safeguards needed to use it responsibly?
In this episode of AI Sidebar, Irene Liu talks with Tom Lue, Vice President of Frontier AI Global Affairs at Google DeepMind and the company’s first general counsel, about the rapidly evolving global AI policy landscape. Lue discusses how AI policy has changed since he joined DeepMind, why shared standards and safety frameworks matter, and what it means to prepare for AGI. Irene and Tom also explore open models, public-private governance, and AI’s potential to advance science, health, education, and climate resilience while keeping humans at the center.
Link List:
Learn more about the Stanford Law School AI Initiative
Irene Liu, Executive Director of the Stanford Law School AI Initiative
Connect with Tom Lue
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:00:48) AI Policy Then and Now
(00:02:27) The Global AI Policy Landscape
(00:05:09) How AI Attitudes Differ Around the World
(00:07:01) Declining Attitudes Towards AI
(00:09:30) Frontier Safety, Frameworks, and Standards
(00:13:02) Public-Private Standards and the Role of Government
(00:15:35) Building a Global Framework
(00:17:37) Helping Policymakers Keep Pace
(00:20:30) Existing Law and AI Liability
(00:21:57) Open Models and Open Source Trade-Offs
(00:25:11) Balancing Open Models With Responsible Deployment
(00:26:17) Preparing for AGI
(00:27:43) What AGI Means for Legal and Policy Teams
(00:29:22) Optimism for the Future in the Age of AI
(00:31:58) Conclusion

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How is AI changing the legal hiring market, and what do lawyers need to do to stay competitive?
In this episode of AI Sidebar, Irene Liu talks with Anna Gorodetsky, a partner at Major, Lindsey & Africa who oversees in-house counsel recruiting, about what law firms and legal departments are looking for in the age of AI. Gorodetsky shares what she is seeing in the market, from new AI innovation roles at law firms to the pressure on in-house teams to do more with technology. Irene and Anna also discuss the practical AI experience employers increasingly expect, what practicing lawyers and law students can do to stand out, and why judgment, communication, trust, and business context remain central to great lawyering.
Link List:
Learn more about the Stanford Law School AI Initiative
Irene Liu, Executive Director of the Stanford Law School AI Initiative
Connect with Anna Gorodetsky
Chapters:
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:01:03) The Legal Hiring Market in the Age of AI
(00:03:29) Layoffs, Freezes, and Legal Team Restructuring
(00:05:31) Pressure on In-House Teams
(00:07:30) The Rise of the “Lawyer Plus” Profile
(00:08:49) AI Skills and Compensation
(00:11:28) What Have You Built With AI?
(00:14:22) AI in the Interview Process
(00:16:27) How Lawyers Can Stay Competitive
(00:19:48) New AI Roles at Law Firms
(00:21:43) Where Firms Are Finding AI Talent
(00:24:30) What AI Innovation Leaders Need to Succeed
(00:26:59) Preparing Law Students for an AI-Driven Market
(00:29:26) What Makes Top Candidates Stand Out
(00:32:20) How Candidates Can Become More Marketable
(00:34:53) The Future of Legal Hiring
(00:38:08) Conclusion

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