University of Chicago Law Students Forced to Muscle-Phrase Without Laptops

KEY POINTS

•The University of Chicago Law School began laptop bans for first-year students this fall to encourage independent thinking amid AI rise.
•Dean Adam Chilton emphasized teaching students foundational skills before integrating AI tools like Harvey and Legora into legal writing courses.
•This policy follows AI-related cheating scandals at Brown and other universities, prompting stricter exams and oral paper defenses.

In a bold move worthy of the Flintstones, the University of Chicago Law School rolled out a 'laptop ban' this fall for all poor first-year souls, insisting they scribble notes with actual hands. Dean Adam Chilton solemnly proclaimed that students must 'think for themselves' in a world where AI lawyers like Harvey and Legora are already drafting motion briefs on coffee breaks. This comes after Brown University’s giant AI-assisted cheating scandal where dozens got busted—proof that handing out take-home assignments in 2026 is like giving FBI agents the keys to the cookie jar. The new curriculum features laptop-free classes, in-person proctored exams (no Secret AI apps allowed!), and oral defenses to prove you're not outsourcing your brain to OpenAI. As Chilton so delicately put it, they've been 'asleep at the wheel,' letting students AI-cheat their way through tedious lawyering. So now it’s old-school pencils by day, AI tools by night; basically, law students will learn to wield a quill before riding a dinosaur to their next AI-driven internship.