Law  ·  Artificial Intelligence

Where law meets AI.

I am a law professor and an expert on legal AI. I research legal automation and I help law firms, legal departments, and AI companies put that research to work.

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Law + AI ScholarshipPublished research on artificial intelligence, legal automation, and AI safety in leading law reviews and CS venues
Legal AI BenchmarkingContributor to foundational work on evaluating legal reasoning in large language models, including LegalBench (NeurIPS 2023)
Stanford JD · MIT BSTrained in both law and quantitative methods
Silicon ValleyPracticed corporate & securities law at Wilson Sonsini, representing startups and venture funds
10+ YearsTeaching contracts and business law at Stanford, Golden Gate, and California Western
California BarLicensed attorney in CA
About

A career at the intersection of law and technology.

I am a Professor of Law at California Western School of Law in San Diego, where I research the intersection of law and artificial intelligence, including legal automation, generative AI in transactional practice, and AI safety. I draw on my research to advise law firms, legal departments, and AI companies on the cutting edge of legal automation.

Before entering academia, I practiced corporate and securities law at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Silicon Valley, representing technology companies and venture funds. I subsequently led the Program on Corporate Governance and Practice at Stanford Law School.

I hold a JD from Stanford Law School and a BS from MIT. I am a member of the State Bar of California.

Spencer Williams, Professor of Law
Research

AI, automation, and the future of legal work.

My scholarship examines how artificial intelligence is transforming the practice of law. I have been published in leading law reviews and computer science venues.

LegalBench

A collaboratively built benchmark for measuring legal reasoning in large language models (NeurIPS 2023, co-author)
Read on arXiv →

Generative Contracts

56 Arizona State Law Journal 1503 (2024)
Read on SSRN →

Layered Alignment

23 University of New Hampshire Law Review 301 (2025)
Read on SSRN →

View my other research on SSRN →

Academic collaboration

I welcome collaborations across law and computer science.

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Consulting

From scholarship to strategy.

Artificial intelligence is transforming the legal profession. I advise organizations navigating this transition, with guidance grounded in cutting-edge research, a technical understanding of legal AI capabilities, and a practitioner's knowledge of legal workflows.

AI Strategy for Legal Practice

Vendor selection, capability evaluation, implementation guidance, and governance frameworks to help law firms and legal departments integrate AI into their workflows responsibly and effectively.

Legal AI Product Advising

Subject matter expertise for AI companies building tools for legal practice. Product strategy, model evaluation, benchmarking, and deep knowledge of legal workflows.

Training & Workshops

Hands-on AI training for legal professionals, from leadership sessions to firm-wide workshops.

Research & Analysis

White papers, policy analyses, and expert perspectives on legal automation.

Working together

Every engagement begins with a conversation about your objectives. Work typically takes the form of an ongoing advisory relationship or a defined project with clear deliverables.

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Consulting engagements are advisory and educational in nature and do not constitute legal advice or create an attorney–client relationship.

Contact

Start the conversation.

Whether you are planning your organization's AI strategy, building tools for legal practice, or pursuing research at the frontier of law and AI, I welcome the opportunity to connect.

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Or connect on LinkedIn