Loyola Law School Hosts Oregon Law’s Rebekah Hanley for Discussions on AI and the Future of Legal Education
LMU Loyola Law School recently welcomed Professor Rebekah Hanley, the Galen Scholar in Legal Writing at the University of Oregon School of Law, for a day of presentations exploring how generative artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping legal writing, teaching, and practice.
Hanley, a nationally respected scholar and past president of the Association of Legal Writing Directors (ALWD), visited Loyola as part of the ALWD Distinguished Speaker Series, which highlights innovative voices in legal communication and pedagogy.
“Professor Hanley’s visit enriched the ongoing discussions our community is having about generative AI,” said Associate Clinical Professor Jonathan Bremen ’19. “Her work challenges us to engage with this technology, not avoid it, and to think carefully about its place in law school teaching and learning.”
AI in the Classroom and the Courtroom
In her faculty presentation, “Transforming Legal Writing Education: Opportunities and Responsibilities in the Age of Generative AI,” Hanley encouraged professors to embrace AI as both a teaching aid and a catalyst for creativity. She offered strategies for integrating large language models into coursework while maintaining academic integrity and critical thinking.
Her student-focused lecture, “Generative AI, Competence, and the Future of Legal Writing,” introduced practical ways law students can use AI responsibly in research and writing. Hanley emphasized that understanding how to evaluate and refine AI-generated work will soon be a core professional skill.
“Generative AI raises complicated questions for us as legal educators. What, when, and how should we teach law students about generative AI tools? How can we build students’ generative AI competence without undermining their development of foundational lawyering skills?” Hanley said. “Appropriately used, generative AI is powerful and promising, so I view it as a catalyst for beneficial innovation in legal education. I am capitalizing on the opportunity that generative AI introduces to revitalize teaching and learning, deepen understanding, enhance creativity, and, I hope, expand access to justice.”
A Vision for Legal Education in the AI Era
Hanley’s scholarship—including her article, From Wringing Hands to Harnessing Awe: Leveraging Large Language Models to Enhance Legal Education (Stetson Law Review Forum, 2025)—examines how emerging technologies can support both ethical lawyering and effective pedagogy.
During her visit, she met with faculty and students to discuss AI’s implications across disciplines and to share ideas for incorporating new technologies into the curriculum. A reception following the faculty presentation provided further opportunities for collaboration and reflection.
“Professor Hanley challenged us to think expansively about the lawyer’s role in a world with generative AI,” said Bremen. “Her insights will continue to shape our conversations about innovation, professionalism, and the future of legal education.”
About the Distinguished Speaker Program
The ALWD Distinguished Speaker Grant supports law schools in hosting scholars who advance the discipline of legal writing. Rebekah Hanley’s visit exemplifies Loyola’s ongoing commitment to innovation in teaching and to preparing graduates for the evolving demands of legal practice.
