Convene
Put people who teach, practice, build, regulate and use legal systems in the same room—and give them a question worth answering.
University of Houston Law Center
Put AI to work for law and legal education.
The Center for AI, Law and the Legal Profession brings students, faculty, lawyers, judges and technologists together to test new tools, build courses and prototypes, and publish what they learn.
Legal education
Professional practice
Courts and access
AI governance
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About the Center
AI is already changing law and legal education.
A student can test an argument against a dozen counterarguments before class. A professor can build a simulation that once took weeks. A lawyer can turn thousands of pages into a first map of a case. The tools are not perfect. They are already remarkable.
The Center starts with what AI can do now, what it may do next, and what lawyers and law schools can build with it. Houston gives us real problems and people eager to solve them. Faculty, students, lawyers, judges and technologists work on the same projects, publish the results, and give students responsibility for research, testing and building.
Produce
Turn each program into something another professor, lawyer, court or student can use: a memorandum, checklist, recording or prototype.
Build
Give students the research, tools, mentors and room to test an idea, revise it and show what they made.
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2026–27 programs
The year ahead
The Center’s 2026–27 programs examine how artificial intelligence is changing legal education, legal practice, courts, access to justice and the infrastructure that supports AI.
Inaugural CLE · Virtual
AI, Law, and the Legal Profession
Three conversations show what AI can already do in a classroom, a law office and a court—and ask what each should try next.
ProducesCaptioned program recordings
Spring 2027
Bench, bar and public-interest forum
When the Unrepresented Have AI
A person without a lawyer can now ask AI to explain a notice, organize facts and draft a first response. Courts, legal-aid lawyers, builders and litigants will test where that helps—and where it breaks.
Program note
Challenge selection for the hackathon.
ProducesBench and litigant design checklist
Spring 2027
Texas policy forum
Practical Regulation of Texas Data Centers
New data centers need electricity, water, backup power and grid connections. The forum will map who pays, which forecasts deserve trust and what Texas can do now.
Program note
Presented with the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Center.
ProducesTexas options memorandum
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Students at the center
Aspirations
We want students to research, test, build and publish.
Students prepare questions, work with speakers, moderate conversations, record what the Center learns and build tools with experienced mentors.
Student fellows
Fellows research speakers and subjects, draft audience questions, publish event recaps and help run Center programs.
Two year-one positions plannedBuild teams
Students work with lawyers, judges, designers and technologists to turn one legal problem into a tested prototype.
Applications open February 12, 2027Scholarships
Six to eight awards will recognize students whose research, writing or building moves a Center project forward.
Six to eight awards plannedProject support
The Center can pay for approved subscriptions, API credits and computing that a student project needs to work.
Receipt-based supportAI and Law Student Organization
The organization will give students a place to compare tools, teach one another, meet guests, run workshops, recruit project teams and keep projects moving between Center programs.
Leadership, charter and membership details forthcomingExpress interest04
People
Meet the people doing the work.
The Center connects legal scholarship, teaching, technology and practice across the University of Houston Law Center and the broader legal community.
Founding Director
Seth J. Chandler
A law professor who codes—and shows his work.
Seth J. Chandler is Professor of Law and holds the Beirne, Maynard, & Parson College Professorship at the University of Houston Law Center. His work brings law, mathematics and computer science together, including the use of large language models by lawyers.
Peter N. Salib
Associate Professor · W. Ronald Robins Endowed Professor of LawProfessor Salib studies how law and legal institutions can reduce societal-scale risks from advanced AI. His work spans AI governance, constitutional law, economics and the use of law as an alignment technology.
Official UH profile
Alyson Drake
Assistant Professor of Law · Director, Law Library · Assistant Dean for Legal Research ServicesProfessor Drake works at the intersection of evidence-based legal education, cognitive science, experiential learning and legal research. She is the Founding Director of the Initiative for Evidence-Based Legal Education.
Official UH profile
Aman Gebru
Assistant Professor · George Butler Research Professor
Nikolas Guggenberger
Assistant Professor of LawProfessor Guggenberger’s work focuses on antitrust, law and technology, privacy and regulation. He also holds an appointment in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UH’s Cullen College of Engineering.
Official UH profile
Tracy Hester
Instructional Professor of Law
Gabriel Weil
Assistant Professor of Law
Greg Vetter
Associate Dean of Academic Affairs · HIPLA College Professor of LawProfessor Vetter is a leading expert on intellectual property as applied to software, including free and open-source licensing. His background in electrical engineering, computer science, software management and law connects technical systems to legal institutions.
Official UH profile05
Quick answers
What people ask about the Center
Concise answers to common questions about the Center’s purpose, student opportunities, public work and leadership.
What is the Center for AI, Law and the Legal Profession?
It is a University of Houston Law Center initiative focused on how artificial intelligence is changing legal education, legal practice, courts, access to justice and AI governance.
How can UH Law students participate?
Students can pursue fellowships, join build teams, compete for scholarships, receive approved project support and participate in the AI and Law Student Organization.
What does the Center publish?
Center programs are designed to produce practical public work such as memoranda, checklists, captioned recordings, prototypes, test results and documentation.
Who leads the Center?
Professor Seth J. Chandler serves as Founding Director. Center programs also draw on UH Law faculty and collaborators across law, technology, courts and professional practice.
Engage with the Center
Bring a hard question. Back a student. Build something useful.
Lawyers, judges, technologists, public-interest groups, educators, alumni and donors can suggest a problem, mentor a student team, test a prototype or sponsor a program.
