Ropes & Gray piloted the AI programme in its US offices and is now set to bring it to London, according to The Times.

Newly-qualified and trainee solicitors will be tasked with “actively testing cutting-edge tools, piloting new workflows for client matters and collaborating to develop best practices”.

It is not clear whether the new scheme will be introduced in Ropes & Gray’s small Dublin office, which opened in 2023 and works closely with the London team.

A spokesperson for the firm told The Times that the new scheme would recognise junior lawyers’ work on AI as “essential to professional development, tracking it as billable time and reporting progress in regular group sessions”.

Junior lawyers will also have the opportunity to show case their “innovations and use cases” to colleagues across the firm for the purposes of “accelerating adoption and continuous improvement”.

London partner Jane Rogers said the US pilot had succeeded in providing early-career lawyers with “a strong foundation in the transformative potential of AI” and had given them “dedicated time to develop proficiency with these critical technologies”.