In Legaltech News, Benjamin Joyner recaps Legalweek 2026 Day 4, where AI-focused programming exhibited a notable shift from recent years, focusing less on pilot projects and more on increasing adoption throughout firms and achieving sufficient ROI.
The coverage captures how training has emerged as a critical priority: both training employees to use AI and using AI as a training tool. A key theme is that hesitancy to adopt AI may not always come from the quarters firms expect. Some firms find partners and senior associates more eager to participate in AI training than summer associates and first years, who harbor worries about job security.
Against that backdrop, AltaClaro's AI-powered deposition simulator, DepoSim — built in partnership with Verbit — was highlighted during the panel "Developing the Future Lawyer: Understanding How AI is Reshaping Litigation Training, Preparation and Evidentiary Insight." AltaClaro CEO Abdi Shayesteh noted that although the tool was developed to allow young attorneys to gain practice conducting depositions before they participate in live hearings, the company has been surprised by how many partners have been using it as well to get more practice.
Framed this way, the article positions experiential training programs like DepoSim as increasingly vital as the use of AI further erodes the already limited amount of substantive work junior lawyers get to do in certain settings, offering a way to build real skills through repeatable practice.