Weil AI Chief Plans to Save Halted Summer Tech Training Program
Weil's AI chief aims to continue its halted summer tech training program at his next firm.
Why it matters: Major law firms increasingly integrate AI training into legal education, shaping future lawyers' skills and recruitment. Weil’s program transfer reflects this trend despite the firm’s collapse.
- Weil Gotshal’s 10-week summer associate AI program integrated Python, machine learning, and real legal tech projects.
- Andrew Simon, Weil’s Chief AI & Innovation Officer, seeks to rehome the halted program after the firm's collapse.
- Other firms like Haynes Boone and Ropes & Gray also embed generative AI into their summer training programs.
- Seyfarth Shaw focuses on AI as a supplemental tool, emphasizing judgment and ethics in legal AI training.
Weil, Gotshal & Manges launched an innovative 10-week AI-focused summer associate program featuring Python instruction, neural network building, and legal software development, aiming to equip first-year law students with practical AI skills (Artificial Lawyer).
Following Weil's collapse, Andrew Simon, the firm’s Chief AI & Innovation Officer, plans to continue this initiative at his next firm, preserving the program’s innovative training model (Legaltech News).
This move aligns with how other major firms integrate AI into legal training. For instance, Haynes Boone has launched a firmwide program that treats generative AI as a core lawyering skill, providing hands-on AI training across all attorney levels, from summer associates to partners (Haynes Boone).
Similarly, Ropes & Gray’s 2025 summer associate program involved over 170 associates receiving hands-on training with legal AI platforms and real client matters, emphasizing AI's practical application (Ropes & Gray).
Seyfarth Shaw takes a slightly different approach by emphasizing AI as a supplemental tool to enhance judgment, critical thinking, and ethical decision-making rather than as a replacement for human skills (Seyfarth Shaw).
Andrew Simon stated, "One of the things we’ve learned is that the best ideas don’t necessarily start with the technology. They often start with asking why a piece of legal work is done a certain way and whether there is a better way to do it." This philosophy underscores Weil’s approach to AI training before the firm's collapse.
By the numbers:
- 10 weeks — length of Weil's AI summer associate program
- Over 170 associates — involved in Ropes & Gray's 2025 AI summer training
- All levels — Haynes Boone's AI initiative spans from summer associates to partners