AI training jobs for lawyers: what the work is and what it pays

The short answer

AI labs pay lawyers to test and improve the legal answers their models give. There are 62 legal roles open on Tier1 right now. The median rate is $110 an hour, half of them pay between $100 and $150, and the best paid offers $270. It is remote, part-time work you can do alongside practice.

What legal AI projects ask you to do

The work comes in a few recurring shapes. Most roles combine two or three of them.

• Grading answers. You read a model's answer to a legal question and score it against a rubric: is the rule right, is it applied to the facts, would a client be harmed by relying on it.
• Writing the answer a good lawyer would give. You write the reference answer the model is measured against, with the reasoning set out step by step.
• Writing hard questions. You set problems from your own practice that current models get wrong, and explain why the model's answer fails.
• Drafting and review. Contracts, memos and filings that the model drafts, marked up the way you would mark up a junior's work.
• Red-teaming. Trying to get a model to give advice it should not, and recording where it does.

What it pays

Legal work is among the best paid AI training work, because a plausible wrong answer is exactly what a model produces and only a lawyer can catch it. The rates on Tier1 are published by each role, so you can see them before you apply; the pay guide compares law with every other field.

Jurisdiction and bar admission

Many legal roles name the jurisdiction they need, because the questions are about a particular body of law. A role that asks for US law will usually ask for a JD and often for admission to a state bar; a role about English or EU law will ask for the equivalent there. Read the requirements before the rate: a role in a jurisdiction you have not practised in is rarely worth the application.

Not every role asks for a licence. Some hire law graduates, LLM students or experienced paralegals for grading and review, and say so in their requirements.

Working from outside the US

Of the 62 legal roles open now, 9 are open worldwide and 12 hire in the US only. The countries legal roles name most often are United States, India, Pakistan and Nigeria. The guide to working from outside the US covers the rest.

How to stand out in the application

1. Name your practice area precisely. "Commercial litigation, 8 years, New York" beats "experienced lawyer". Projects are matched to areas of law.
2. List every jurisdiction and admission. They decide which roles you are eligible for more than anything else.
3. Show that you write clearly. Most of the work is explaining reasoning in writing. Mention drafting, publications or teaching.
4. Expect a test task. Many platforms screen with a short assessment in your area. Treat it like work for a client.
5. Apply only where you are eligible. An application to a role closed to your country or jurisdiction costs you time and gets nothing back.

Current legal roles

Every open legal role is on the AI training jobs for lawyers page, with its rate, hours and the countries it hires in, updated every hour.