Reports of Legal Writing’s Death Are Greatly Exaggerated: Why Generative AI Will Not Kill the Craft

Authors

• Jayne T. Woods

Abstract

In preparing for this essay, I typed the phrase “legal writing is” into Google to see how common searches finished the thought. The only completed thought to appear was “legal writing is hard.” Amen. Legal writing is an amalgamation of logical reasoning, cognitive psychology, classical rhetoric, legal terminology, legal citation, and proper grammar and style, all of which must result in a product accessible to readers of all education levels. When generative AI arrived, producing cogent, plausible legal prose in seconds, it led many to believe that writing, generally, and legal writing, specifically, had reached the end of days.

Recommended Citation

Jayne T. Woods, Reports of Legal Writing’s Death Are Greatly Exaggerated: Why Generative AI Will Not Kill the Craft, 2026 J. Disp. Resol. ()
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/jdr/vol2026/iss2/13