Director, Attorney AI Learning & Strategy

McDermott Will & Emery

Director of Attorney AI Learning & Strategy at McDermott Will & Schulte overseeing attorney AI training and strategies. Collaborating across teams to design and implement AI learning initiatives for legal professionals.

Posted 6/12/2026full-timeChicago • California, Illinois, Texas • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $211,000 - $301,000 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Develop, coordinate and oversee the firm’s attorney AI learning strategy, including baseline AI training, practice-based AI learning, and advanced workshops and credentialing.
Combine legal practice expertise with the ability to design, operationalize and evaluate attorney training and development initiatives in a rapidly evolving AI environment.
Report to the firm’s Senior Director of Talent & Development and will work closely with Professional Development, Knowledge Management, Information Technology, practice and affinity group leaders, and other relevant stakeholders to assess attorney learning needs, design AI learning strategy and ensure that programming is aligned with the firm’s goals, approved tools, and evolving market and legal trends.
Lead development and implementation of the firm’s attorney AI learning strategy.
Assess current attorney AI training efforts and develop recommendations regarding learning architecture, credentialing, cadence, workshop design, and training modalities.
Serve as the day-to-day cross-functional lead across Talent & Development, Knowledge Management, IT, practice group leaders, and other stakeholders on attorney AI learning initiatives, including identifying legal workflows, use cases, and case studies that should inform attorney AI learning.
Partner with Talent leadership to integrate attorney AI learning with the broader attorney lifecycle, including onboarding, skills development, supervision, advancement, and practice-group programming.
Continuously evaluate and update attorney AI learning strategy, curricula, and content to ensure they remain relevant, practical, and innovative.
Recommend and operationalize a visible, credible approach to attorney credentialing and recognition in the AI learning space.
Help shape an approach that protects foundational lawyer skill development while encouraging thoughtful adoption of new tools and workflows.
Develop a practical framework for tracking participation, completion, credentialing, and other relevant program indicators.
Prepare updates and recommendations for Talent leadership and other firm leaders regarding program progress, gaps, and next-step priorities.
Leverage technology platforms and analytics to deliver, track, assess, and adjust the learning strategy over time.
Monitor developments in legal AI tools, legal technology, and related market trends and translate them into timely updates to attorney learning content and guidance.
Participate in learning and development, legal innovation, knowledge management, and AI-related organizations and conferences to stay abreast of emerging tools, learning methods, and market trends.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s degree
Juris Doctorate (JD)
Meaningful experience practicing law at a law firm, in-house legal department or comparable legal setting
Hands-on familiarity with both general-purpose AI tools and legal AI platforms commonly used in law firm environments, including tools such as Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT Enterprise, Claude, Harvey, CoCounsel, Legora and comparable practice-specific or internally developed tools
Experience in attorney development, professional development, lawyer training, legal education, knowledge management, practice innovation or a related field
Experience with designing large-scale change management strategies
Experience evaluating how AI tools are used in legal workflows, including drafting, summarization, research support, document review, issue spotting, chronology building, diligence and other practice-specific applications, and translating that understanding into lawyer-facing training
Experience identifying and addressing the learning, supervision, risk and change-management issues that arise when introducing AI into legal practice
Familiarity with attorney professional responsibility rules governing AI and emerging jurisdictional guidance
Demonstrated ability to translate technical concepts and evolving AI capabilities into practical lawyer-facing learning
Experience designing firmwide or practice-specific lawyer-facing curricula, workshops or skills-based programs preferred
Experience building or scaling new programs in an ambiguous or evolving environment preferred
Familiarity with attorney supervision, professional responsibility and development of junior lawyer skills in a changing practice environment preferred
Strong executive presence and interpersonal skills; ability to work effectively with partners, practice leaders and senior business professionals
Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and drive complex work forward with limited supervision
Ability to work in cross-functional and virtual teams
Strong organizational skills; ability to work under tight deadlines and prioritize responsibilities
Ability to handle and maintain confidential information
Ability to travel for work
Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word)
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Wellness is integral to building a successful career and a rich life.
Supports physical, emotional, mental, and financial health.
Generous compensation packages that recognize hard work and excellence.

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

AI traininglegal AI platformschange management strategiescurriculum designworkshop designlegal workflowsdocument reviewissue spottinglegal researchtraining evaluation

Soft Skills

interpersonal skillsexecutive presenceindependent workorganizational skillsjudgmentcross-functional collaborationcommunication skillsability to prioritizeconfidentialityadaptability

Certifications

Bachelor’s degreeJuris Doctorate (JD)