From Promise to Practice: Professor Drew Simshaw’s Scholarship Focuses on Law in the Age of AI

Professor Drew Simshaw joined the William S. Boyd School of Law from Gonzaga University, drawn by Boyd’s deep commitment to access to justice and student success. Nevada’s openness to new ideas and legal challenges provides the ideal backdrop for his ongoing research at the intersection of artificial intelligence, legal ethics, and legal education.

His recent scholarship includes a forthcoming book review for the Michigan Law Review of AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference, analyzing the work through a legal ethics lens. The review explores circumstances where AI in legal services fails to meet its promises and examines deeper institutional crises that lead to reliance on AI—particularly its exploitative labor impacts and under-recognized environmental costs. Professor Simshaw asks an essential question: what responsibility do lawyers have to ensure AI is used ethically in the legal profession?

Professor Simshaw’s recent publications and presentations further advance this inquiry. His essay, Interoperable Legal AI for Access to Justice, appeared in the Yale Law Journal Forum (2024), and his keynote address at Georgia State University’s 29th Annual Law Review Symposium tackled “Access to AI Justice: A Global Response to a Global Crisis.” He also contributed to a symposium issue of the University of St. Thomas Law Journal with Technology Competence as a Compass for Helping to Close the Justice Gap (2024), highlighting the role of technological skill in advancing equitable legal services. Through his scholarship, Professor Simshaw continues to shape national conversations on the ethical, practical, and societal implications of AI in law.