Young law graduates should be ready to face challenges posed by AI and other technological advancements, says Shivraj Patil

Young law graduates should be ready to face challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence and other technological advancements, Shivaraj Patil, retired Supreme Court judge and Karnataka State Border and River Protection Commission chairman, said in Dharwad on Wednesday. He was delivering the convocation address at the Karnataka State Law University.

“There is no escaping the impact and influence of Artificial Intelligence across sectors, including law. The rapid adoption of AI in legal research, contract drafting, document management and judgment translation reveals both vast opportunities and complex challenges. The current generation holds the responsibility to ensure that technology remains a tool of justice—not its substitute,” he said.

“Privacy, dignity and due process must be upheld even in the digital age. The rule of law must continue to be the cornerstone of governance and social order,” he said.

S. Abdul Nazeer, Andhra Pradesh Governor and retired Supreme Court judge, said that the global demand for legal professionals was steadily rising every year. It is estimated that the legal profession in India is expanding at nearly 20% annually.

He advised young lawyers to be patient and persistent. “Law is not like an one-day international match or a T20 match—it’s a long, single-innings Test match,” he said.

“With the emergence of new challenges, the legal field has become highly competitive. But with strong communication skills, oral advocacy, negotiation abilities, and flawless drafting, young lawyers can achieve success. Perfect drafting alone ensures 50% of the success in litigation,” he said.

The university awarded honorary doctorates to Mr. Nazeer and senior advocate V Sudhish Pai.

A total of 28 gold medals were presented to meritorious students from the three-year and five-year law programmes.

For the year 2022-23, Ganesh K. from Bengaluru bagged the gold medal in the three-year LLB programme, while Maanya Anand also from Bengaluru bagged three gold medals in five year BA LLB programme.

Ankit Anand from Bengaluru bagged gold medal in BBA LLB, Chandani G.S. got the gold in the five-year BCom LLB; Rachana J.M. from KSLU, Hubballi, stood first in BA LLB (Hons), and Anirudh Joshi from Hubballi bagged three gold in the five year BBA LLB (Hons).

G. Anusha and Monal Bhandari from Hubballi stood first in the two-year LLM in Constitutional law, while Alfonsa Saji from Bengaluru bagged gold medal in LLM in Business and Trade Law. Sindhu B. from Mangaluru bagged gold in the two-year LLM.

For the year 2023-24, Eshwar B. from Mysuru bagged gold in the three-year LLB, Afsy Jose from Bengaluru bagged two gold in the five-year BA LLB, Leesa Jain from Bengaluru bagged two gold medals in the five-year BBA LLB, and Jenny Ann Biju also from Bengaluru, bagged a gold in the five-year BCom LLB.

Vaishakh Kulkarni from Hubballi stood first in the five-year BA LLB (Hons), while Badrinath C.H. and Amit Bagi from Hubballi bagged gold medals each in BBA LLB (Hons) and two-year LLM respectively.

Madhuparna Sarkar from Bengaluru bagged two gold, while Anika Kagad, Simran Hulkoti from Hubballi bagged one gold medal each and L Sameeksha Hegde from Mangaluru stood first in the two-year LLM.

Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot seemed unhappy at the lengthy programme. Earlier, convocations used to conclude within 75 minutes. “But these days, the event stretches beyond three hours. Symbolically, only 20 to 25 candidates should receive certificates on stage, but now the number has reached nearly 200,” he said.