If you believe what Aneesh Raman, the Chief Economic Opportunity Officer at LinkedIn, has to say, there are some stressful days ahead for law grads—this year and next.
In an op-ed in The New York Times, Raman cited junior tech developers, first-year law associates, junior paralegals, and retail service people as among those most likely to be affected by AI.
“There are growing signs that artificial intelligence poses a real threat to a substantial number of the jobs that normally serve as the first step for each new generation of young workers. Uncertainty around tariffs and global trade is likely to only accelerate that pressure, just as millions of 2025 graduates enter the work force.
We saw what happened in the 1980s when our manufacturing sector steeply declined. Now it is our office workers who are staring down the same kind of technological and economic disruption.
Breaking first is the bottom rung of the career ladder. In tech, advanced coding tools are creeping into the tasks of writing simple code and debugging — the ways junior developers gain experience. In law firms, junior paralegals and first-year associates who once cut their teeth on document review are handing weeks of work over to A.I. tools to complete in a matter of hours. And across retailers, A.I. chatbots and automated customer service tools are taking on duties once assigned to young associates.” (Emphasis added)
And further:
“Virtually all jobs will experience some impacts, but office jobs are expected to feel the biggest crunch: Our research suggests that professionals with more advanced degrees are more likely to see their jobs disrupted than those without. While the technology sector is feeling the first waves of change, reflecting A.I.’s mass adoption in this field, the erosion of traditional entry-level tasks is expected to play out in fields like finance, travel, food and professional services, too.”
There’s a path forward, according to Raman.
“…[W]e need to ensure workers are learning the skills employers are starting to demand. New approaches are emerging: American University’s Kogod School of Business is embedding A.I. across its curriculum and training faculty members to use A.I. tools, and Carnegie Mellon is offering an A.I. bachelor’s program in which students take classes on harnessing the power of A.I. to be “beneficial and useful for people.” Community colleges in Miami-Dade, Houston and Maricopa Community Colleges are joining in, starting a national A.I. consortium to align curriculums with work force needs and offer applied A.I. degrees backed by companies like Intel and Microsoft.”
If you’re a law student—or an undergrad thinking of becoming one—ask whether your law school is leading the way in equipping students with advanced AI skills.
It’s that important, according to Raman—and based on what I’m hearing from leading legal professionals here on LinkedIn.