The Power of AI Isn’t Just Supercharging Fee-Earning Work, Law.com
July 07, 2026In an accompanying article for The American Lawyer’s 2026 Pro Bono Report examining how law firms are using AI to expand access to justice and enhance pro bono legal services, Morgan Lewis Chief AI & KM Officer Colleen Nihill discussed the firm’s recent AI-focused “vibe-coding” hackathon for summer associates, which paired hands-on training with projects for three pro bono organizations. She shared that the idea was to give young lawyers an opportunity to work on real-world issues without the stress over meeting billable hour quotas.
“Instead of just talking about tools, what we wanted to do was frame this as something where we can kind of accomplish two things at one time, which is to give you the framework of our AI platforms, but at the same time help solve these real world problems in connection with real legal service delivery issues, enhancing the client experience and then access to justice, which is something we’re passionate about,” Colleen explained.