Lucas Law Legal Leaders Scholarship Winner

Ashton Johnson

Ashton is beginning his legal education at the University of Michigan Law School. Ashton’s essay illustrates his impressive work ethic, dedication to learning, and his determination to pursue his goals. We are thrilled to assist Ashton in making his career goals a reality!

Read Ashton's Essay:

Throughout my legal career, I hope to leave an impact in the field of law. I want to be remembered as someone who thoughtfully considered legal issues and proposed new frameworks and ideas in developing legal areas. For example, I think there is a lot of opportunity for developing a greater understanding of how the law applies in situations where generative artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT is used. Understanding who is legally responsible for the information provided by generative artificial intelligence, and under what circumstances they are responsible, is an area that requires significant legal thought and a new framework for an innovative technology. As technology continues to expand further, legal innovation must keep up with the rapid pace of technological innovation. It is this area that I want to leave an impact on my legal career. I hope to demonstrate that it is possible and necessary for the law to stay on top of technological change. By doing so, I want to help to ensure that the rights of individuals are protected, while not stifling the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that has served our country so well.

I believe that I am capable of achieving this and that I possess several strengths which help me to accomplish this goal. First, I think that as someone who grew up with smartphones, social media, and was in college during the advent of generative artificial intelligence, I am well suited to understanding the impacts of technology as well as how it affects everyday life and individuals. In my opinion, it is necessary for those who will shape the laws which govern current and future technological innovations to understand how technology interacts with the world today. Second, I am confident that I have the academic and intellectual skills required to succeed in law school and beyond. Throughout my undergraduate career, I maintained a 4.0 GPA and I think my work ethic and ability to comprehend and solve problems quickly will enable me to do well in law school in a similar manner. After I graduate from law school, my ability to quickly read and digest information before applying it to the situation at hand will help me to succeed in the quickly shifting world of technology. Finally, I am confident that my willingness to fail and to admit when I am wrong will help me in this field. Given the ever-changing nature of technology, it is necessary to be willing to confront the legal issues it creates head on, and quickly attempt to address them. The speed required means inevitably some ideas will not work, or that they will have unintended negative consequences. Rather than being bogged down in the possibility of failure, or stubbornly refusing to change, my ability to accept when something does not work and move on will allow me to keep up with technology while striving to continually improve the laws around it. Ultimately, I think that technological innovation requires a nimble legal regime which can adapt to the ongoing transformation of ideas and growth of industries, and I want to help to develop that regime. I believe my ability to understand and work with technology, succeed academically and intellectually, and my willingness to fail and adapt ideas will enable me to do so.