Junior lawyers, perhaps the group most anxious about AI’s growing prevalence in law firms, are the focus of a recent CNA report that examines how the technology is reshaping entry-level legal work. Among those interviewed was TSMP Senior Associate Terence Yeo, who acknowledged a familiar frustration among young practitioners: the sheer volume of repetitive, labour-intensive work in the early years of practice. But rather than framing AI purely as a threat, Terence said the technology can relieve junior lawyers of mechanical tasks such as reviewing and proofreading large volumes of documents, freeing them up for more meaningful work.

Terence’s view, as presented in the report, is that AI could actually improve the experience of junior practice by accelerating exposure to higher-value responsibilities. Instead of spending years on purely process-driven work, younger lawyers may gain earlier opportunities to develop strategy, advocacy, problem-solving and client-facing skills. In that sense, AI is not simply taking work away from junior lawyers; it is also pushing them faster up the value chain and changing what firms expect from them at an earlier stage in their careers.

The CNA piece also makes clear that this shift comes with risks, particularly around training and over-reliance on AI-generated outputs. Terence underscores that the human side of legal practice remains critical, saying that empathy, judgment and the ability to connect with clients are areas where AI still falls short. His comments position junior lawyers not as obsolete, but as future practitioners who will need to combine technological fluency with distinctly human strengths if they are to stay relevant in an AI-shaped profession.