Coddling Young Lawyers? One Law School Says Not On Our Watch

Vanderbilt Law School partnered with simulated legal training provider AltaClaro to give its students access to DepoSim, an AI tool that role-plays witnesses, opposing lawyers, and court reporters in simulated depositions and provides feedback afterward, according to Vanderbilt AI Lab Associate Director Emily Pavuluri and AltaClaro CEO Abdi Shayesteh. The partnership follows AltaClaro's earlier 2026 deal with Cleveland State University for AI prompt training, and Vanderbilt frames the exposure as a response to student demand for practical legal experience as AI absorbs tasks law firms once used to train junior lawyers.

Young lawyers are apparently a disaster. They have to be coddled. They can’t think. They are lazy and don’t want to work. They need constant feedback. We’ve all heard it: if they’re left alone for more than 20 minutes, they will wander into traffic while staring at TikTok. How much of this is just typical generational bitching, and how much is true, remains to be seen. But there does seem to be a particular vehemence to what so many practicing lawyers are claiming, which leads us inevitably back to the law schools. Ever since I’ve been practicing, law schools have done very little to prepare students to actually practice law. Hence, the first several years of practice mainly served as training grounds. But now AI can do many of those tasks that law firms used to train young lawyers. Why Bigger Legal Budgets Buy Less Relief Than Ever https://abovethelaw.com/2026/09/why-bigger-legal-budgets-buy-less-relief-than-ever/ Introducing Axiom’s 2027 In-House Legal Budget Report. Read on to see the details. So, it’s legitimate to ask hard questions about the role of the law schools. And Vanderbilt Law School https://law.vanderbilt.edu/ , along with a handful of others, seems to be getting the message that it can no longer be business as usual. The Vandy-AltaClaro Partnership That’s why Vanderbilt Law School’s recent partnership with AltaClaro https://www.altaclaro.com/ reflects such a meaningful approach for future Vandy law grads. AltaClaro is a leading provider of simulated legal training. In fact, it may be the only one committed to a “learning by doing” approach. It places lawyers in simulated real-life situations they must work through. Earlier this year, it introduced DepoSim https://www.altaclaro.com/deposim . DepoSim uses AI to take on the roles of witnesses, opposing lawyers, and even court reporters in a simulated deposition. The program even allows users to dial up different personalities for the witness and opposing counsel. A difficult witness. An obnoxious opposing counsel. And at the conclusion of the exercise, the tool provides feedback. The Lateral Market Runs On Recruiters. goLateral Wants To Cut Them Out. https://abovethelaw.com/2026/09/the-lateral-market-runs-on-recruiters-golateral-wants-to-cut-them-out/ goLateral is a quiet window into what's actually out there. Joining takes two minutes, costs nothing, pays you $100, and stays completely confidential. The Vandy-AltaClaro partnership offers Vandy law students access to DepoSim so they can become acquainted with the deposition process and learn practical deposition taking skills. It’s not the first time AltaClaro has partnered with a law school to offer practical programs. Earlier this year, it announced a partnership https://abovethelaw.com/2026/01/genai-courses-in-law-school-a-good-idea/ with Cleveland State University to offer AI prompt training. And according to Emily Pavuluri https://law.vanderbilt.edu/bio/emily-mccutcheon-pavuluri/ , the Associate Director of the Vanderbilt AI Lab, it’s just this kind of exposure that students really want. But There’s More to This Story But when I talked to Pavuluri, along with AltaClaro CEO Abdi Shayesteh https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/abdishayesteh&ved=2ahUKEwiivcCy8 CWAxXEkysGHU1 EKQQFnoECA8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw1BziD-Rk8s2Lz60Qw9WDpQ , I found that while the partnership is interesting, there was much more to the story. Pavuluri told me that, like other law schools, Vandy is grappling with fundamental questions like what it now means to be a lawyer. And how in the hell the next generation of lawyers needs to be taught. Vanderbilt’s approach, though, is refreshingly different. Pavuluri told me that she believes many students come to law school hungry from day one for practical experience and actual legal work. So Vandy’s unique approach in part is designed to capitalize on that desire. As you would expect, Vandy 1Ls spend much of their first semester taking core classes and learning how to write and do legal research. But that’s where Vandy parts ways with the traditional process. Pavuluri told me the school is very intentional and purposeful about how it introduces AI. It wants to be sure to give students time to learn how to do the hard thinking and writing so they can master critical skills early. And it also is intentional about getting students to think about what AI does well in the legal practice and what it doesn’t. Instead of outright banning the use of AI, as some schools have done. Then after the first year, Vandy works hard to place its students in law firms for the summer. Pavuluri believes that by the time they return from that first summer, the students have a better picture of what the practice is like. Vandy also hopes to partner more with its clinical faculty as well to enhance the practical experience throughout the year. The Proof Is In the Pudding But lots of law schools talk a good game about their practical programs. The proof, though, is in the pudding. And if the performance of the students with DepoSim is any indication, Vandy is on the right track. Pavuluri and Shayesteh told me they were amazed by student questions and comments in a DepoSim workshop the day before we talked. Says Pavuluri, “The questions that were being asked were not questions you would typically hear from 2Ls. They were asking questions like they were real practitioners. Questions you would expect of an innovation team or a partner.” Pavuluri and Shayesteh’s excitement about what they heard was actually palpable. It was so cool, they said, to watch the students go at it, pulling up exhibits, and bantering with the AI opposing counsel. And while most students came in with a prepared outline, they quickly recognized the need to make course corrections based on the answers they got. They had to react. Deal with opposing counsel. Make decisions in real time. Shayesteh told me, “It really helped them understand that there’s more to it than preparing by just writing an outline.” Hmm. I don’t mind telling you, it took me a few years and a lot of depositions to figure that out. Pavuluri summed up just what I was thinking, “For them to jump in and be interested in these types of questions just goes to show they’re ready for practice.” Damn right. The process by which students are trained to use DepoSim and other tech tools also reflects the school’s commitment to prepare students for real life. Pavuluri told me that the students are given the material to work with — in the case of DepoSim, a factual scenario — and then left to determine how much time they need to spend to prepare. She tells them that in real life practice, they will have to prioritize their time and energies. “They learn what it means to be a lawyer, and that they have to make judgment calls about where they spend their time and energy.” With a chuckle, she told me sometimes the students make the right call and sometimes it blows up in their face. Just like in real life. So much for coddling. Hitting the Ground Running Without Coddling What was so great about all this is not only will Vandy students come out of law school with real life training, but with a recognition of their strengths and interests. So they can better determine what they want to do with their career. When I got out of law school and was interviewing, out of ignorance, my answer to the “what kind of work do you want to do” question was “anything but litigation.” I had no clue what it meant to practice law in any specialty, and I didn’t recognize my strengths fit litigation better than most other areas. Had I gone through a program like Vandy is putting together, I would have figured out in law school that litigation was something I liked and was good at. Instead of mucking around for several years trying to figure it out. And Pavuluri, not surprisingly, talked a lot about the role of the law school in helping students deal with real life issues about their careers. To help them figure out what kind of firm in which they want to practice. To help them be nimble and able to pivot. To better understand how firms are using or not using technology. To cut through vendor bullshit. A Whole Cloth Approach It struck me that it’s really a whole cloth approach to legal education. Instead of knee-jerk rejection of AI, banning laptops from classrooms, and hunkering down with traditional law school training, Vandy, along with a handful of other law schools like Suffolk, Northwestern, Stanford, and BYU, is trying hard to teach skills their graduates will need. I don’t know any recent Vandy law graduates. But my guess is that wherever they are, they don’t need to be coddled. They are hitting the ground running. And in today’s brave new AI world, the younger lawyers who can hit the ground running with practical skills and the ability to think through problems are going to succeed. Graduating lawyers who need coddling? Vandy says not on our watch. And that’s what today’s law school ought to be all about. Stephen Embry is a lawyer, speaker, blogger, and writer. He publishes TechLaw Crossroads https://www.techlawcrossroads.com/ , a blog devoted to the examination of the tension between technology, the law, and the practice of law.