WashU Law Dean Stefanie Lindquist and Co-Director of the WashU AI Collaborative Ryan Durrie were both honored in the Legal Tech Education category at the Legal Innovation Summit & Awards on November 20. The Summit brought together forward-thinking legal professionals, technology leaders, and innovators to explore the future of legal services and to learn how AI and new technologies are being deployed across law firms, client services, operations, and the entire legal landscape
Dean Lindquist and Professor Durrie were recognized for their leadership in integrating cutting-edge technologies into legal education and preparing the next generation of lawyers for a rapidly evolving industry.
Since joining WashU Law in 2024, Dean Lindquist has launched a transformative suite of initiatives aimed at elevating AI proficiency across the law school community. These initiatives include the establishment of an AI Advisory Board, the creation of the WashU Law AI Collaborative, a Legal Tech Weeks speaker series, the integration of advanced AI tools into the curriculum, open-enrollment AI courses, specialized judicial trainings, CLE programming, and a pre-law summer program focused on AI and the law.
“AI and legal technologies will transform the practice of law,” Lindquist noted in her remarks to Missouri Lawyers Media. “Leaders who do not recognize that fact and pivot to this new reality are failing their organizations. Lawyers will not lose their jobs to AI, but lawyers who don’t understand how to use AI effectively will lose their jobs to the lawyers who do.”
Professor Durrie was honored for his foundational role in building WashU Law’s AI Collaborative and for his leadership in developing the law school’s first Artificial Intelligence Law course. He also works extensively with legal technology partners, including Harvey, Spellbook, and Relativity, to provide students hands-on experience with tools that are rapidly becoming standard in legal practice.
In reflecting on the profession’s challenges, Durrie emphasized the urgency of preparing for accelerating technological change. “The greatest opportunity is lowering the barriers to receiving legal services, driven by the increase in efficiency from new AI technologies,” he said. He also highlighted the need for cultural adaptation within the profession: “Innovation does not mean breaking from the past, but learning from it and adopting the best parts for the new realities of the world.”
In addition to the Summit recognition, Dean Lindquist was recently appointed to the Thomson Reuters Institute Advisory Board on Technology & Legal Education. The advisory board, which is composed of law school deans, judges, firm leaders, and technology experts, will examine how generative AI, shifts in the legal labor market, and advancements in service delivery models will shape legal education and practice over the next decade. The invitation from TRI cited Dean Lindquist’s “forward-thinking and innovative” leadership as central to the board’s work.
Congratulations to Dean Lindquist and Ryan Durrie for their achievements and commitment to leading the national dialogue on legal innovation.
