Institute for Law & AI (LawAI) - Law & AI Academic Fellowship

ABOUT YOU

You might be a good fit for this role if you:

• Plan to pursue a career in US legal academia. You understand the basic career path for legal academics in the US, and have the motivation to pursue it.
• Have a combination of strong academic performance and additional experience that make you a strong candidate for future roles in US legal academia. While there is no single path to a career in legal academia, successful candidates are likely to have strong academic performance in law school and some combination of the following: post-law school work experience (e.g., a clerkship, private sector legal practice, public service experience, advocacy or policy work), service on a law review or comparable academic journal, an existing publication record, a concrete research agenda, or additional advanced degrees. That said, we are cognizant that excellent legal scholars may come from various backgrounds, and are committed to holistic evaluation of applicants and inclusion of a broad range of experiences and perspectives. 
• Understand legal scholarship deeply. Whether you have produced published legal scholarship yourself, served as an editor on a law journal, or are simply an avid consumer of law review articles, you have an eye for quality academic work. You can autonomously formulate research questions and deliver excellent written work.
• Write well. While prior publications are not required for this position, applicants should be able to demonstrate an ability to produce excellent written work product.
• Are driven by improving AI law and policy. You are not content with research that is merely theoretical or interesting, instead preferring to deliver actionable insights that judges and policymakers can use to improve human welfare, security, and rule of law.
• Care about seeking truth. You want to carefully evaluate the evidence, including when doing so is inconvenient or complex. You want to convey your level of (un)certainty in your conclusions and reason transparently so that people can identify potential flaws or shortcomings in your analysis. You make recommendations when you believe that they are well-supported and you are comfortable withholding them when they aren’t. You see research as an iterative process that benefits from critique and discussion over time.
• Are self-directed and proactive. You are comfortable setting priorities, identifying promising lines of inquiry, and moving work forward with limited supervision, while knowing when to seek input or alignment.
• Can travel frequently. The LAIAF will be required to travel 2–3 times per year for team retreats and conferences. Fellows will be required to spend at least one month per year (preferably in the summer) working in-person with the LawAI team in either Cambridge, UK, or Washington, DC. In addition, LAIAFs should expect to travel frequently to attend job talks, academic workshops, and conferences as part of their professional development and job application process. LawAI will provide financial support for this (see below).

While these attributes are each important, there’s no such thing as a perfect candidate; we don’t expect a successful hire to excel in all dimensions. If you’re on the fence about applying because you are unsure whether you are qualified, we strongly encourage you to apply.

OTHER DETAILS

COMPENSATION 

The salary for the position is $130,000 per year.

START DATE

We prefer fellows who can start shortly after receiving an offer. To accommodate candidates who are entering the job market for the fall 2027 cycle, we may be able to offer a start date as late as September of 2027. 

RENEWAL

The initial term for the fellowship is two years. However, we understand that for certain candidates, two years may be insufficient to assemble a strong application package and secure a tenure-track position. For such fellows, we may be open to extending the fellowship for an additional year, contingent upon strong performance throughout the first two years and funding availability.

TIME ZONES AND LOCATION 

This is a full-time, two-year position with flexible working hours and location. 

We expect that most fellows will work from the US, as this position is targeted at individuals planning on applying for faculty positions at US law schools.

Fellows will be required to spend at least one month per year (preferably in the summer) working in-person with the LawAI team in either Washington, DC, or Cambridge, UK. LawAI will help cover associated costs, including travel, housing, and childcare. While one month per year is required, we encourage fellows to spend additional time in-person.

Visas: We may be able to support visa applications in some instances for this role, though individual eligibility is not within our control.

BENEFITS

Our benefits include:

• Flexible working hours, with the option to work from our office in Cambridge, UK
• 5 weeks of PTO recommended per year, plus public holidays
• 12 weeks of paid parental leave that can be taken prior to birth or adoption and during the first year, with the option to take additional unpaid leave
• Employer pension or matching 401(k) contribution up to 4% of your salary
• Health insurance for employees residing in countries without nationalized healthcare 
• An annual reimbursement fund of $5,000 for productivity and professional development, which we encourage you to use for travel to academic conferences, workshops and job talks
• An annual reimbursement fund of $5,000 for mental health support
• An annual reimbursement fund of $2,500 for equipment and office supplies
• A friendly, open work culture that encourages feedback and close collaboration, and a team that appreciates the contributions of all team members.

For this position, we will offer an additional $5,000 annual travel reimbursement budget to help fellows attend academic conferences, workshops, and job talks. This is a floor and not a ceiling, and may be increased if needed.

RESEARCH SUPPORT

LawAI’s expense policy allows employees to expense reasonable research expenditures, including books, journal access, and database access (e.g., Westlaw). All LawAI employees have access to leading generative AI tools. As mentioned above, we also encourage fellows to seek out opportunities to affiliate with a university during their fellowship to, inter alia, enable easier access to library resources. LawAI may be able to help find universities that are open to such arrangements.

Fellows will have the option to hire Seasonal Research Fellows to serve as research assistants. LawAI can also provide funding for contractors to help with, for example, editing and sub-citing fellows’ research.

We strongly encourage fellows to ask for additional forms of research support not covered by the aforementioned resources as the need arises. LawAI aims to provide world-class research support to fellows so that they can dedicate as much time as possible to the substantive components research.