3/10/2026

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the legal profession faster than many predicted, and Delaware Law School is ensuring its graduates are ready to lead in that transformation. Through curriculum innovation, faculty expertise, and campus‑wide dialogue, the school is building a foundation of AI literacy, ethical awareness, and technological fluency that will define the next generation of legal practice.

Delaware Law has made AI readiness a priority across its academic and professional development programs. New courses, symposia, and faculty initiatives now emphasize not only how AI tools work, but how future lawyers must evaluate, question, and responsibly integrate them into practice. The goal is clear: prepare graduates to navigate a rapidly evolving landscape with confidence, judgment, and technical competence.

One example of this institutional focus is Assistant Professor Zachary Catanzaro, whose AI‑Empowered Lawyering course introduces upper‑level JD and master’s students to the tools and concepts that are reshaping legal work. Professor Catanzaro has also provided hands-on AI training to the Delaware Law Faculty. 

Professor Catanzaro has spent his career at the intersection of technology and law. 
“I grew up tinkering with computers,” he said. “While I practiced law, my firm focused almost entirely on corporate cyber law and intellectual property issues, mostly for companies in the online retail space. I began using AI in practice back in 2015, years before the current AI boom. I’ve always been on the cutting edge of tech in both business and law.”

His course reflects Delaware Law’s broader philosophy: students don’t need to become programmers, but they do need adaptable, transferable skills. The curriculum in his course covers prompt engineering, agentic research, AI‑assisted writing, e‑discovery, predictive analytics, law firm management, and the ethical and evidentiary challenges that accompany emerging technologies.

“I’m teaching students how to teach themselves,” Professor Catanzaro explained. “The technology moves so quickly that locking students into one platform or tool doesn’t make sense.”

He also stresses that lawyers must understand the mechanics behind AI systems. “If these systems are built on statistics and probability, we have to teach students the math behind them,” he said.

Ian J. Kolb (left) and Assistant Professor Zach Catanzaro (right)

“Otherwise, how can they hope to understand how these systems work in practice?”

Professor Catanzaro served as the faculty chair for the Widener Law Review’s recent symposium, “Legal Research and Writing in the Age of AI: Ethics, Pedagogy, and Practice,” which underscored the urgency of this work. Several Delaware Judges, Delaware Law faculty members, and leading U.S. scholars examined issues ranging from AI‑generated evidence to tools like TruthOrLie.ai  and the COMPAS risk‑assessment system to hallucinations and legal interpretation, as well as the growing use of AI to analyze briefs, predict outcomes, and reconstruct crime scenes in virtual reality.

Across the panels, it was evident that AI can be a powerful asset, but only when lawyers understand its limits. Professor Catanzaro echoes that point in the classroom. Many students arrive worried about AI replacing lawyers but leave with a more nuanced view.

“We still need humans to exercise judgment,” Professor Catanzaro said. “AI frees us from the mundane parts of practice so we can focus on real lawyering.”

That shift in perspective is already taking hold among students engaging directly with AI‑focused coursework and research. Ian J. Kolb a 2L student and Professor Catanzaro’s research assistant, said the experience has reshaped his understanding of AI’s role in the profession.

“When I started law school, I was genuinely worried about how AI might affect my future as an attorney. Working with Professor Catanzaro has changed that. I help support his research, everything from suggesting edits to sourcing articles and bluebooking citations, and that experience has given me a clearer, more grounded understanding of what AI is and what it isn’t,” Kolb said. “The shift we’re seeing now feels like the transition from using physical books to perform research to online platforms like Westlaw and Lexis.. The tools are changing, and the practice of law will change with them, but students who learn to use AI ethically and efficiently will be ready.”

From Dean Todd Clark’s perspective, preparing students for an AI‑driven profession is both a strategic priority and an ethical obligation.

“The legal profession is undergoing a profound technological transformation, and our responsibility is to ensure students are prepared to lead in that landscape,” Dean Clark said. “AI literacy, ethical judgment, and technological fluency are becoming essential competencies. Delaware Law is investing in that future now and we’re actively exploring initiatives that will push this work even further.”

As the legal profession undergoes one of the most significant technological shifts in its history, Delaware Law is preparing its graduates not just to adapt to change, but to drive it. With leadership pushing innovation, faculty modeling forward‑thinking practice, and students engaging deeply with emerging tools, the school is equipping future lawyers to understand both the power and the limits of AI. In a field where accuracy, ethics, and human judgment remain essential, AI is redefining what excellent lawyering requires, and Delaware Law graduates will be ready to lead the profession’s next chapter.