In an interview with Cal Lawyer, Davis Polk partner David Lisson shared advice on how junior lawyers can build their legal careers by establishing themselves as AI experts. 

“This is an area where the junior attorney can become an expert in something and be the go-to person on this [topic],” David explained. “If you come and figure out what this [AI] model is doing and how it’s doing it, you’ll be the one that the senior attorney comes to, and you’ll be the one that the client comes to because you’re the one that understands what’s actually going on.”

David also went on to discuss Davis Polk’s GenAI litigation initiative, which was launched two years ago as a strategic effort to address the legal intricacies of generative AI. He noted that, at the time, company boards were pressuring executives to jump into AI but that “there wasn’t a lot of thinking about what that means from a risk perspective.”

The article highlights that AI touches nearly every area of law, and although copyright cases involving AI training models are dominating the current headlines, there are broader challenges ahead. David noted that the current moment is “just the beginning” of a much larger wave of litigation.

When asked what the keys to success are in high-stakes litigation, David said, “The trick to it is really balancing and staying on top of the details while keeping an eye on the big picture.” He emphasized how he always tells junior lawyers that his formula for success has always been “become an expert in something.”

“The world is obsessed with AI. Should you make a legal career out of it?” Cal Lawyer (June 10, 2025) 

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