Soledad Atienza, Dean of IE Law School: "Universities in Europe have a responsibility to transmit and defend European values"

Soledad Atienza, Dean of the IE Law School (IE University), reflects in this interview on the future of higher education in Europe in an increasingly interconnected and digitalized world. The adaption to these challenges requires actions such as the inclusion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in education and a global approach to legal education, which can be implemented through comparative teaching methodology as is done at IE Law School. Additionally, Soledad Atienza explains that CIVICA has a unique opportunity for understanding European legal education opportunities. Cooperation among Law schools has increasingly become easier due to the elimination of bureaucratic barriers.

What is the role of European law schools in today’s world?

Universities and law faculties in Europe have a great responsibility, a responsibility of transmitting and defending European values. Understanding European legal systems is a way of understanding Europe itself, and a way to defend European integration.

European universities have a significant advantage thanks to major developments already in place, such as credit recognition, compatible systems, parallel education frameworks, the Erasmus program, and research programs. All of this makes alliances between European law schools easy to establish because the bureaucratic and administrative barriers have been removed.

We’re in a great position to launch more training programs, more research programs focused on European values, the future of the European Union, and the EU’s impact on other regions. We have all the tools within European universities. CIVICA is the ideal platform because it allows us to work directly on content.

Are initiatives—like CIVCA—the reason why the Law School adopted a comparative law system?

The Law School adopted a comparative approach to legal education because the legal profession is now practiced in a global context and the legal market is a global one. 

A global law program has three elements. The first is having students and professors with an international mindset. This not only means coming from different countries, but also truly having an international perspective. In a law program, the nationality of students is particularly interesting because each nationality represents a legal system. It's not just a passport, it's a legal system. Every student brings with them a different constitution, a tax system, a labor regulation. 

The second element of a global program is the content of what is taught. We make sure that every subject, every material, every reading, every exercise, is genuinely global. Comparative law is the most comprehensive way to teach and learn law. It allows students to deeply understand legal institutions and the foundations of law through studying the similarities and differences among various legal systems.  

The third element is that the program must give students access to the legal profession, which is heavily regulated across jurisdictions. That’s where we come in, through partnerships with King's College, Northwestern, and other universities. Students can take Spanish law courses alongside the program to later pursue a Master’s in Law in Spain. They can go to the UK to become solicitors or to the U.S. via the Northwestern program to take the Bar Exam.

To which students is this comparative law program directed to?

Above all, it speaks to the motivations and interests of talented students with a global legal mindset. At 18, it’s very hard to choose a degree and prepare for a profession you can only practice in your country. This program is for high school students who see a world of opportunities. Those with a legal vocation can develop it while keeping their options open. They can later decide whether to stay in Spain or go to the U.S. for the Bar, without being forced to study law in only their language or country.

Has AI had a similar impact on the legal profession?

AI impacts the legal profession and legal education directly. As society evolves with AI, legal services also change, both transactional or dispute-resolution ones. So, if conflicts change because society changes, and transactions change because businesses and society evolve, then, regulation, dispute resolution and legal advice evolves as well. I believe we are living in a truly fascinating moment. The reality is that we don’t yet have a clear answer, but we are beginning to see the direction in which the legal profession may evolve. Consequently, legal education must evolve too.

It’s a natural change because it responds to a broader societal shift. We need to ensure that the use of AI benefits the legal profession, benefits society and benefits student learning. Students should learn to use these tools to gain efficiency and accuracy, but they should be aware that they need to acquire basic legal skills such as critical judgement. They should not use ChatGPT as a shortcut to arrive at a solution without achieving a truly profound understanding of the question, a critical assessment of all possible answers, and the judgement solve the problem. 

How does IE Law School make sure students correctly use AI?

We’ve created an initiative called the "AI and the Law Initiative". AI is not an addition, an annex, or a supplement to what we teach. We look at the whole picture, think comprehensively about what we are teaching, how we are teaching it, and for what kind of profession we are preparing students, and what impact AI has in all of this. 

So, what are we teaching? The first step is to teach regulation, or the ethical use of AI, and how regulation differs in different jurisdictions, like the EU, China and the United States. But that’s not enough. We must rethink everything we teach under the lenses of an AI society and an AI legal profession. 

In what ways is AI included in the Law School outside the classroom?

We have a series of activities created to engage in a solid debate with the legal profession. These include different teaching and research initiatives. Part of our research in AI is developed by the "Lawtomation", the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellences for Law and Automation affiliated with the European Commission. 

The "Law Ahead Center for Legal Profession" is a research and debate center focused on the legal profession itself. Currently, part of the debate on the skills needed for the legal profession is connected to the use of AI and how to ensure that digital transformation does not reduce or diminish human and social interaction within legal practice.

We have just hosted the first meeting of the global network of centers on the legal profession (including Harvard, Georgetown, Fordham, Kings College, Tilburg, Kings College and IE), where AI, legal profession and legal education have been central to the debate.