In a world where courtroom robes are brushing shoulders with the metaverse and algorithms, and law associates are being replaced by AI assistants, not only the young lawyers but the entire legal profession can no longer afford to sit in isolation. While the sound of the gavel may still echo tradition, the winds outside the courtrooms are whispering a big change. For young litigators, the mantra seems evidently clear: evolve or be extinct.

Artificial Intelligence isn’t knocking at the legal door — it’s already taken its place and now has a ringside view of the entire legal ecosystem. Tools like Harvey AI and Jurisphere are helping lawyers draft, research, and strategise in ways unimaginable a decade ago. Those of us

who have not seen AI in action are missing a great deal in understanding how these tools have become great levellers for smaller law firms and law chambers with limited resources, who are now able to compete with the giants and deliver quality legal work in the blink of an eye. Equipped with the right technology and the skills to use it, the Goliaths of the system can be outsmarted not by matching them blow for blow, but by out-thinking, out-preparing, and outmanoeuvring them through the help of these tools.

Whether it’s sifting through document-heavy matters, drafting templatised versions of applications and petitions, or gleaning facts from the tome of papers that have been dumped on you either by your own client or the opposite party, AI is accomplishing this in a matter of seconds with sharper quality and precision than a trained and seasoned legal mind. Think of it as your junior associate or colleague — efficient but not infallible. Those of us who are still boarded on the vessel of tradition and not embracing these tools or upskilling ourselves to use them may find

ourselves outskilled and outworked soon — it’s just a matter of time. “The past needed lawyers who knew the law and advocated the truth, now we need lawyers who can outrun the systems designed to suppress the truth.”

The age of digital adoption and footprints is also the age of digital overreach. With data breaches, online frauds, digital footprint deletion and algorithmic profiling becoming courtroom regulars, litigators are fast becoming digital defenders. Privacy is the new battleground of conflicts, and understanding technology and being well-versed in interdisciplinary areas of knowledge will be the key to cracking future cases. The next-gen lawyer will need to not just be legally sound; she will have to be technologically fluent, emotionally tuned, and strategically fearless. “Law is no longer just about precedents — it’s evolving in real time to stay relevant.”

But here’s a twist in the tale: there is still one part of practice that I feel will evolve but remain largely unruffled. As the profession leans towards extreme digitisation, the soul of law is still likely to remain analogue. Cross-examination, courtroom craft, the pause before a punchline, the strategic nod, a revealing cross-examination in a strategic trial — this lawyering craft, no software or AI can execute in a courtroom, howsoever good it may be. For example, the ability to cross-examine that can break or dispel narratives will become the new-age craft that will decide the fate of cases and lawyers alike. In trial lawyering, the craft will be mightier than the algorithm for times to come.

A citizen’s faith in justice doesn’t come from AI reading briefs and judgments. It comes from watching their own lawyer stand up and fight for them in court.

To all young lawyers, my core advice will be that to future-proof your legal career, don’t just chase trends and be predictable — you must now anticipate tectonic shifts in the profession. Remember, the courtroom of tomorrow won’t be won by memory alone — it’ll be won by mastering AI tools that break down 5,000 pages of documents into a single trail of truth; digital forensics, where what you delete says more than what you write; contract automation; and real-time evidence gathering. We are in a day and age when corporations are training bots to scan for risk, investigators are using AI to build digital trails, and governments worldwide are deploying technology to manage narratives.

So, who protects the common citizens, and who ensures that legal protections keep pace with legal weaponisation? The answer: lawyers who are honest and digitally empowered, but above all — those who stay grounded.

The writer is an advocate and Partner at The Chambers of Bharat Chugh