Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Law (M2604)

15 credits, Level 5

Autumn teaching

The legal sector is undergoing a structural shift as AI moves from pilot tools to integration in platforms across courts, law firms and legal advice providers. Online courts and legal services are reframing justice around user needs and digital channels, creating new opportunities for lawyers and non-lawyers with skills in design, project implementation and governance - not just black-letter legal analysis.

This module is suitable for both law and non-law students, and you won't need any prior understanding of law or AI.

On this module you'll:

• design credible, user-centred workflows that lower the barriers to justice services
• evaluate AI use-cases against ethics, bias, confidentiality and accountability
• communicate evidence-based recommendations to courts, firms and legal advice centres.

You'll blend theory with hands-on labs (practising prompt engineering and prototyping). You'll see product demos from industry partners and consider live case studies. You'll look at emerging legal-tech solutions, and the range of new careers in the legal sector.

Contact hours and workload

This module is approximately 150 hours of work. This breaks down into about 21 hours of contact time and about 129 hours of independent study. The University may make minor variations to the contact hours for operational reasons, including timetabling requirements.

We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum.

We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.