AI Can Draft the Document. But Who Is Teaching the Junior Lawyer?

Artificial intelligence is transforming the work traditionally assigned to junior lawyers. But as research, drafting and document review become increasingly automated, Australian law firms face a critical question: how will the next generation develop the skills needed to become experienced practitioners?

For decades, junior lawyers have built their expertise through legal research, preparing first drafts, reviewing documents and assisting senior practitioners. These tasks may be repetitive, but they have also played an important role in developing legal judgement, attention to detail and an understanding of how matters progress.

Now, AI is changing that process.

According to the Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner, 36.7% of respondents to its 2025 Victorian Lawyer Census were using AI in legal practice, with more than half of those users engaging with the technology daily or weekly.

Research and case analysis were among the most common applications, alongside client communications and document review.

Are junior lawyers losing valuable learning opportunities?

The concern is not simply that AI can complete tasks more quickly.

It is that junior lawyers may have fewer opportunities to develop the underlying skills required to assess whether the technology's output is accurate. A lawyer who has never thoroughly researched a legal issue may struggle to identify when an AI-generated answer is incomplete or misleading. Similarly, reviewing a contract drafted by AI still requires an understanding of the commercial objectives, legal risks and consequences of its provisions.

However, the changes also present opportunities.

By reducing repetitive work, AI could allow junior lawyers to participate earlier in complex legal analysis, client interactions and strategic decision-making.

Law firms are already adapting

MinterEllison's graduate programme now explicitly incorporates training in legal-specific AI tools, alongside professional judgement, technical development and commercial skills. The Victorian legal regulator has also emphasised that firms should provide appropriate AI training, verify AI-generated work and properly supervise early-career lawyers.

These developments suggest that the traditional legal apprenticeship may need to evolve rather than disappear.

LawUno Insight

The biggest risk may not be that AI replaces junior lawyers. It may be that firms adopt AI faster than they redesign the way junior lawyers are trained.

Technology can produce a first draft in seconds. But understanding why a particular argument works, identifying what has been overlooked and exercising sound professional judgement still require experience. For young lawyers, the ability to use AI effectively will become increasingly valuable. For law firms, investing in structured supervision, mentoring and practical training will remain essential.

The firms that succeed may be those that combine technological efficiency with meaningful opportunities for junior lawyers to learn.

If AI can do the work junior lawyers traditionally learn from, who will teach them how to become great lawyers?