Northwestern Pritzker School of Law will partner with ROSS Intelligence to teach students about using technology and artificial intelligence in legal services, according to a Friday news release.

Through the partnership, students will be able to use ROSS Intelligence technology in their law courses and in library research, the release said. In addition, NU will provide a public interest fellowship to connect students with opportunities to use legal technology in their work.

“Our students must be comfortable and familiar with how technology works,” School of Law Dean Daniel Rodriguez said in the release. “They don’t have to know how to code, but they must be able to quickly learn new technology, navigate and assess technology for its intended use in legal services and identify opportunities for technology to address related issues.”

ROSS Intelligence is a provider of research tools that incorporate artificial intelligence technology, the release said. The company’s main product, ROSS, is “the world’s first digital attorney” and conducts legal research using IBM’s Watson technology, according to the company’s LinkedIn page.

The partnership with NU will focus on “access-to-justice” issues and how technology can help provide legal services, according to the release.

“Our mission since the earliest days at ROSS Intelligence has been to use technology to democratize the law,” ROSS Intelligence CEO Andrew Arruda said in the release. “In a country where 80 percent of individuals who need access to legal resources cannot afford them, bridging the access-to-justice gap is more important than ever.”

Students will also have opportunities to apply the technology by interning with legal services organizations, according to the release. Partners for these internship opportunities will include Illinois Legal Aid Online and Lawyers Trust Fund of Illinois, the release said.

“Tomorrow’s generation of lawyers is being trained today,” Arruda said. “By ensuring they are exposed from day one to the benefits of legal technology in theory but also in practice, we’ll help create a wiser, more entrepreneurial and more compassionate generation of lawyers.”

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