The competence gap: Who will be your managing partner in 2040?

Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing how legal work gets done. Tasks that once occupied junior lawyers for hours, from document review and legal research to drafting and due diligence, can now be completed by AI in a fraction of the time.

While the productivity gains are significant, this shift raises an important question for the legal profession: if AI is doing the work that once trained junior lawyers, how will they develop the judgement needed to become tomorrow's leaders?

This was the central challenge explored by LawY Global CEO Shelley Burger in her keynote, From widening gap to emerging opportunity: Teaching judgement when AI does the gruntwork, at the LawTech: AI Summit.

Her message was clear: AI adoption presents an enormous opportunity for law firms, but those that focus solely on efficiency risk overlooking the long-term development of their people.

The hidden value of junior legal work

Traditionally, junior lawyers have developed their skills through repetitive, time-consuming tasks that form the foundation of legal practice.

Document review builds an instinct for identifying risk. Due diligence develops pattern recognition. Legal research strengthens the ability to interpret and apply precedent.

While these tasks may appear routine, they play a critical role in developing the experience and judgement required of senior legal professionals.

Historically, this development happened naturally through client work. Junior lawyers learned by doing, receiving feedback and gradually taking on greater responsibility.

AI is disrupting that traditional apprenticeship model. As technology increasingly handles the initial research, drafting and review, junior lawyers are spending less time producing work and more time evaluating AI-generated outputs.

The challenge is that reviewing an answer does not necessarily develop the same skills as producing one. Research supports this distinction. A 2026 Anthropic study involving junior software engineers found that participants using AI assistance performed 17% worse on a subsequent assessment, with the greatest gap appearing in their ability to identify and diagnose errors.

For the legal profession, this raises concerns about the skills lawyers need to critically evaluate AI-generated work. However, the evidence also highlights an opportunity. Research from the University of Minnesota Law School found that AI can strengthen learning when used to help students understand and apply legal principles. The distinction lies in how AI is implemented. When used to support critical thinking, AI can accelerate learning. When used simply to replace the thinking process, it risks undermining the development of professional judgement.

Why the competence gap matters for law firms

The implications extend beyond graduate training. As AI becomes embedded in legal workflows, firms must ensure their lawyers have the knowledge and judgement to verify outputs, identify errors and exercise appropriate professional oversight. Recent Australian court matters involving AI-generated false citations have highlighted the potential consequences of inadequate verification and supervision.

For law firm leaders, this means junior development is no longer solely a talent management consideration. It is increasingly a matter of risk management and long-term business sustainability. Firms that prioritise productivity without considering how their lawyers develop could inadvertently weaken their future leadership pipeline. And while AI capabilities can be adopted relatively quickly, professional judgement takes years of experience, mentoring and deliberate practice to build.

Human judgement as a competitive advantage

‍One of the strongest opportunities emerging from AI adoption is the growing  importance of human expertise.

As AI makes routine legal outputs faster and more accessible, the qualities that differentiate law firms are shifting. Technology can be purchased, systems can be replicated and processes can be automated. But a team of lawyers with deeply developed professional judgement is far harder to reproduce.

The ability to navigate complex legal issues, understand commercial implications and provide strategic advice will remain critical to delivering value for clients.

This creates a significant opportunity for firms that invest in developing their people alongside AI.

By building stronger capabilities in their junior lawyers today, firms are investing in the senior associates, partners and leaders who will shape their future. It also creates a competitive advantage that compounds over time. Firms that develop talent proactively will be better positioned to attract and retain ambitious lawyers, adopt emerging technologies confidently and deliver the expertise clients value.

The competitive advantage won't simply come from adopting AI. It will come from developing the human judgement that makes AI more valuable.

Four ways law firms can develop talent alongside AI Rather than slowing AI adoption, firms have an opportunity to redesign professional development to reflect how legal work is changing. During her keynote, Burger outlined four practical commitments law firms can make to ensure AI supports the development of future legal talent.

1. Create opportunities to practise judgement AI can be used to simulate negotiations, complex legal matters and challenging client scenarios, giving junior lawyers opportunities to practise decision-making in controlled environments.

Encouraging juniors to develop their own drafts before comparing them with AI-generated alternatives can also strengthen critical thinking and understanding.

2. Increase exposure to experienced lawyers
Professional judgement develops through experience and observation. Bringing junior lawyers into negotiations, client meetings and complex discussions creates opportunities to learn directly from senior practitioners. As AI reduces time spent on routine tasks, firms can reinvest some of that capacity into mentoring and coaching.

3. Capture the reasoning behind decisions
Much of a firm's most valuable knowledge sits with its experienced lawyers. Documenting the reasoning behind significant legal and commercial decisions can help turn individual expertise into shared learning opportunities. This creates a practical resource for developing judgement across the firm.

4. Make professional development a deliberate investment
As AI changes the economics of junior legal work, firms can no longer rely on billable tasks to provide the same training opportunities. Protected learning time, structured mentoring and recognition for lawyers who contribute to developing others will become increasingly important. The key is to treat professional development as an integral part of AI adoption, rather than a
separate initiative.

The future of legal AI depends on human expertise

AI presents an extraordinary opportunity to improve efficiency, reduce repetitive work and transform how legal services are delivered. But realising its full potential requires more than implementing new technology. Law firms must also rethink how they develop the people responsible for using it.

At LawY, the belief is that AI should enhance the capabilities of legal professionals, not replace the critical thinking, experience and judgement that underpin quality legal advice. As the profession evolves, firms face a choice: allow traditional development pathways to diminish as AI takes over routine work, or deliberately create new opportunities for lawyers to build the skills they need.

Those that take a proactive approach will be better positioned to realise the benefits of AI while building a stronger, more capable workforce.
The firms that lead in the AI era won't necessarily be those that automate the most work. They'll be those that use technology to develop better lawyers.

This article summarises key insights from "From widening gap to emerging opportunity: Teaching judgement when AI does the grunt work", a keynote delivered by Shelley Burger,
Global CEO of LawY, at the 2026 Lawyers Weekly LawTech: AI Summit.

‍