vLex Innovator Q&A Series with Kenton Brice of OU College of Law

As artificial intelligence continues to reshape the legal profession, the intersection of legal education and technology has never been more critical. Our vLex Innovator Q&A Series continues to spotlight leaders who are pioneering new approaches to preparing legal professionals for an AI-driven future.

After our interview with Ilona Logvinova, we're thrilled to share our latest interview in the series with Kenton Brice, Director of the Law Library and Associate Professor of Law at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. This interview was recorded in January 2025, giving Kenton's predictions and insights time to marinate as we move deeper into this transformative year.

Kenton brings a unique perspective to legal education and technology integration, having taken what he calls "the weirdest path to get to directorship of a law library." After practicing law for five years and leveraging technology at his firm, Kenton transitioned to academia in 2015 as OU's first Digital Resources Librarian. He later became the first Director of Technology Innovation before assuming his current role as Director of the Law Library. His journey exemplifies how diverse professional experiences can inform innovative approaches to legal education.

As the leader behind OU College of Law's pioneering Digital Initiative and the architect of the school's comprehensive AI integration strategy, Kenton has positioned his institution at the forefront of preparing students for the future of legal practice. His collaboration with vLex to bring Vincent AI to OU students and faculty demonstrates the kind of forward-thinking partnerships that are reshaping legal education.

In his conversation with vLex's Chief Strategy Officer, Ed Walters, Kenton discusses the future of legal education, the impact of AI on law firm business models, his work building relationships in the legal tech ecosystem, and his predictions for what 2025 holds for the legal industry.

Watch the full interview with Kenton Brice

From Practice to Innovation: A Non-Traditional Path to Legal Education Leadership

Kenton's journey to becoming a law library director illustrates how diverse professional experiences can create unique value in academic settings. After graduating from OU College of Law in 2009, he practiced for five years at a small firm with a national presence, where he became a technology advocate.

"I started to realize quite a bit that lawyers generally weren't very good with thinking about how to leverage technology in practice," Kenton reflects. "And so as kind of a techie kind of guy who was doing that in practice, that's why I wanted to teach."

His transition to academia wasn't straightforward. Recognizing that traditional law school teaching positions rarely focus on technology integration, Kenton pursued a master's degree in library science while still practicing law. This strategic decision opened the door to his current role when OU launched its Digital Initiative in 2014.

"I found maybe the law librarianship route was the way to get there," he explains. "University of Oklahoma at that time was generous enough to reach out and let me know about their new digital initiative they had created in 2014 and asked if I'd be interested in becoming the first ever digital resources librarian to help with that effort."

This alignment between his vision and OU's innovative approach created what Kenton describes as "a match made in heaven." His subsequent progression from Digital Resources Librarian to Director of Technology Innovation and finally to Director of the Law Library demonstrates how law schools can benefit from leaders who understand both the practical challenges of legal practice and the transformative potential of technology.

AI Integration in Legal Education: Beyond the Hype to Practical Implementation

One of the most compelling aspects of Kenton's approach is how OU College of Law has moved beyond discussions about AI to concrete implementation across multiple constituencies. The school has adopted a comprehensive strategy that serves faculty, students, and administrators.

"It felt like overnight there were 150 people in law schools talking about AI, where three years ago there was like five people in law schools talking about AI," Kenton observes. This proliferation of voices and perspectives has created both opportunities and challenges for institutions seeking to develop practical AI strategies.

At OU, AI integration isn't limited to a single course or demonstration. The school has implemented AI across multiple dimensions:

Administrative Excellence: Kenton and his team use AI daily for summarization, email drafting, and competitive intelligence. "I leverage AI all day long. I use ChatGPT. We have a Teams account here that we got 40 people signed up on—students and faculty and administrators. I use that daily," he explains.

Faculty Innovation: OU professors are conducting groundbreaking research using AI tools. Professor Haley Stillwell is using AI to build a jury simulator for research on jury nullification. "The token count that she's burning through is pretty high. But it's really cool," Kenton notes.

Student Preparation: Through the partnership with vLex, students now have access to Vincent AI, which Kenton describes as essential preparation for practice. "We do have a subscription to Vincent and we've pushed that out. Students are using it. I use it quite a bit. And so we are incorporating it into very specific areas of our curriculum and legal research, legal writing."

Perhaps most importantly, Kenton emphasizes that the school's approach is about empowerment, not restriction. "This is a tool. Use it well," he tells students, acknowledging that some faculty may have different perspectives but maintaining that practical preparation is essential.

Building the Legal Tech Ecosystem: Connecting Academia and Industry

Kenton's work extends beyond OU's campus to foster connections between legal education and the broader legal technology ecosystem. His approach to building relationships with legal tech vendors has created a model that other law schools are beginning to adopt.

"I feel like I was a first mover there of, and I wanna say begging, but it really wasn't begging, but it kind of was like, the students need to have exposure to this, please come talk to them," Kenton explains. "And it's amazing that they did."

This ecosystem-building approach has produced concrete results. OU was the first law school to build a deal with LiquidText, and the school regularly brings legal tech vendors to campus for demonstrations and student engagement. The strategy extends to conference attendance, where Kenton and his team venture beyond traditional academic conferences to industry events.

"Sean Harrington and I went to ILTACON in Nashville. There were only three people we knew of from law schools there. It was me, Sean, and then Mark Williams from Vanderbilt," Kenton recalls. "We're going in the vendor hall, we are talking to vendors. We wanna know what's going on in this space."

This hands-on approach to relationship building has created opportunities for students that wouldn't exist in a more traditional academic setting. The strategy has proven remarkably effective, with vendors consistently responding positively to direct outreach and engagement from academic institutions.

The partnership with vLex exemplifies this approach. Kenton highlights how the collaboration came together through shared vision: "The vision of your team to match our vision is really what it is. It's that vision alignment for what legal education needs to be."

Market Shifts in Law Firm Business Models: The End of the Billable Hour Era

Kenton's dual perspective as both an academic and former practitioner gives him unique insights into the fundamental changes reshaping how law firms operate and generate revenue. His observations about these market shifts reveal the very real transformation occurring in legal service delivery and pricing models.

Drawing from recent industry analysis, Kenton points to compelling evidence that the legal profession is approaching a critical inflection point. He cites the Thomson Reuters State of the US Legal Market Report as particularly significant.

"First key takeaway, which was the first I've ever seen in this report... we need to start evaluating the billable hour," Kenton explains. "If that's in that report, which is one of the more conservative reportings on the state of the market, we should all be opening our eyes a little bit."

This shift isn't merely theoretical—it's being driven by practical realities. As Kenton observes, "Everyone knows generative AI can make lower level work way more efficient. For firms to continue to be cashflow positive on their revenue side, they're going to have to change how they do their billables."

The solution, according to Kenton, lies in embracing alternative pricing models: "I think what that means is we move more towards a value-based pricing system, and we're seeing it in the data."

This transformation has direct implications for law students, who are increasingly aware of these market dynamics. "They have deep concerns of going into a practice that's not leveraging generative AI and these tools and then what their future may look like," Kenton observes. This concern is driving him to serve as "a counselor more than a professor" as he helps students navigate their career planning in an uncertain but rapidly evolving landscape.

The Future of Legal Operations and AI Integration

One of Kenton's most insightful observations concerns the role of legal operations in successfully implementing AI in legal practice. His perspective on this connection reveals a sophisticated understanding of how technology adoption really works in legal organizations.

"Legal ops is the way to get AI into law practice," Kenton argues. "It's marrying the business with the practice. And that's exactly that competency you need to finally start leveraging generative AI 'cause you have to think about all these other things. The operators are the ones that are thinking through that."

This insight has informed his plans for developing legal operations curriculum at OU, recognizing that the professionals who can successfully bridge business and practice considerations are essential for effective AI implementation.

Kenton's Predictions for 2025: From Curriculum to Culture Shift

Looking ahead to 2025, Kenton shared three compelling predictions during our January interview. Now, several months later, these predictions have had time to develop and prove their prescience.

More AI Initiatives in Legal Education

"You're going to see more curricular and co-curricular AI initiatives, whether it be certificate programs, degree programs, LLMs, concentrations," Kenton predicted. "Only because law schools know it's important, not because there's any accreditation standard for it. It's not part of the next gen bar, US News and World Report rankings are not putting pressure on that. It's just because it's the right thing to do."

This prediction has already begun materializing, with various law schools announcing new AI-focused programs and initiatives throughout 2025.

Transformation of Law Firm Business Models

Kenton's second prediction focuses on the fundamental restructuring of how law firms generate revenue. He anticipates significant movement away from traditional billing structures as firms grapple with the efficiency gains AI provides.

"I think we're finally at that inflection point," Kenton predicted, emphasizing that this transformation isn't merely theoretical—it's being driven by practical necessity as AI makes routine legal work dramatically more efficient, forcing firms to reconsider their revenue models to remain profitable.

Expect the Unexpected

"My third prediction is expect the unexpected," Kenton stated directly. For his last prediction, Kenton emphasized the unprecedented pace of change in AI capabilities and the impossibility of accurately forecasting what's coming next.

"I saw a graph yesterday that O3 is projecting to outperform a PhD in research in their own domain using Google. That's incredible. And that's—this is January—so for the next 11 months, the amount of investment that we're seeing in this space and the amount of innovation we're seeing in this space, not just from OpenAI, the DeepSeek news... if a lot of that is real, that's massive."

His conclusion: "I don't think anybody knows what it's gonna look like in six months."

Looking Forward: The Vision for Legal Education

Our conversation with Kenton Brice reveals a leader who understands that effective legal education must prepare students not just for the practice of law as it exists today, but for the practice of law as it will exist throughout their careers. His approach at OU College of Law demonstrates how academic institutions can successfully integrate cutting-edge technology while maintaining focus on fundamental legal skills and ethical considerations.

Kenton's journey from practicing attorney to law library director illustrates how diverse professional experiences can create unique value in academic settings. His work building relationships between law schools and the legal tech ecosystem provides a model for other institutions seeking to prepare students for the realities of modern legal practice.

Perhaps most importantly, Kenton's honest acknowledgment of uncertainty about the future, combined with his commitment to practical preparation, offers a balanced approach to navigating technological change in legal education. As he puts it when discussing his predictions: "It's like OU football, I'm hyped up every year. We're gonna win every year, and then we win six and seven, so you never know."

The partnership between vLex and OU College of Law, facilitated by leaders like Kenton and Sean Harrington, exemplifies how shared vision can create opportunities for students that wouldn't exist in more traditional academic settings. This collaborative approach provides a roadmap for other law schools seeking to bridge the gap between academic preparation and the realities of modern legal practice.

Connect with Kenton on LinkedIn to follow his ongoing work in legal education innovation.

Stay tuned for our next interview in the vLex Innovator Q&A Series, where we'll continue exploring the frontiers of legal innovation with leaders shaping the future of legal practice.

Authored By Jeff Cox