Thinking Like a Lawyer in the Age of Generative AI: Cognitive Limits on AI Adoption Among Lawyers

Despite generative AI's growing technical capacity to transform legal work, legal practice has changed little. This essay explores a cognitive explanation: lawyers often struggle to deeply understand AI-generated responses to com-plex or unfamiliar legal issues. These challenges impair their ability to evaluate AI outputs and perform related tasks such as client advising, argument tailoring, or issue synthesis. The problem is especially acute for junior lawyers and may reflect core features of legal reasoning. These findings highlight persistent cognitive constraints on professional adaptation and raise broader questions about human-AI interaction in expert domains.