11 important studies on AI and law - What are the capabilities of AI in the legal sector?
An overview of current research:
AI vs. humans
1. GPT-4 passes the bar exam (Katz et al, 2024).
The classic: The “ancient” GPT-4 passes the US Bar Exam. It remains disputed how well the AI actually performed.
https://lnkd.in/d-Tawyzf
2nd AI vs. Richter (Posner/Saran, 2025)
A complex case is submitted to both experienced judges and an AI system for a decision. AI is based more strictly on precedents, judges more closely on the personality of the defendant.
https://lnkd.in/dFM-nQng
3rd AI deployment in Shenzhen (Liu/Li, 2025)
Chinese courts use AI to write reasons for judgement. People still make decisions, but the study suggests that the content of decisions is also changing.
https://lnkd.in/d_mmbe7C
4. AI in law school
AI-assisted law (Schwarcz et al., 2025)
Law students not only work faster with advanced AI models, but also improve their quality.
5. KI writes law exams (Fan et al., 2025)
LLMs write 340 German and English-language law exams - and then correct them as well. In German, the AI's do worse.
https://lnkd.in/d5JnuqEX
My meeting: https://lnkd.in/dtyUzfyz
6. Can AI take over the Prof. consultation? (Ouellette et al., 2025)
A patent law textbook is being fed into leading AI systems. On this basis, the AI answers 185 questions. But many answers are only “acceptable” or even incorrect.
7. Social perception objection rejected! (Schneiders et al., 2025)
Laypeople prefer AI-generated legal advice over that from lawyers — if they don't know the origin.
8. AI instead of state courts (Kieffaber et al., 2025)
Start-up founders present the concept of a completely AI-based arbitration court as an alternative to state courts.
https://lnkd.in/dwD-wQTb
Limits and risks
9. AI and critical thinking (Lee et al., 2025)
Study with 319 knowledge workers suggests: Higher trust in AI leads to less critical thinking.
10. RAG is not a panacea (Magesh et al., 2024)
Legal research tools with Retrieval AugmentedGeneration cannot completely prevent hallucinations.
11. Big models, small effect (Humlum/Vestergaard, 2025)
Hardly any effects of AI chatbots on the labor market and at most modest increases in productivity — including injuristic occupations.
https://lnkd.in/dH6PfY9G
Source:
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7338803493190656000/
Dr. Sebastian Dötterl
Judge at the Munich Higher Regional Court
