Vanderbilt Law School Partners with AltaClaro to become First Law School to Offer AI-Powered DepoSim to Students

Partnership expands Vanderbilt’s AI Law Lab Initiative and brings DepoSim to the classroom and law library, preparing future lawyers with practical experience.

NASHVILLE, TN, UNITED STATES, September 9, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Vanderbilt Law School is expanding its commitment to preparing students for the future of legal practice through a new partnership with leading experiential training company AltaClaro that will bring DepoSim, an AI-powered deposition simulation platform built in collaboration with Verbit, to students beginning in the Fall 2026 semester.

Vanderbilt Law School will offer DepoSim, the first tool of its kind, as part of the school's AI Law Lab initiative. Students using DepoSim will verbally question an array of witnesses with differing personas, face real-time objections from a spectrum of opposing counsel personas, and encounter the unpredictability of actual litigation.

Students will gain this hands-on experience using AI to develop practical deposition skills either by taking Vanderbilt's Legal Practice Technology course and other clinical courses, as well as by independent access through the Vanderbilt Law Library.

The initiative reflects Vanderbilt's broader strategy of ensuring graduates develop both the foundational legal skills and technological fluency increasingly expected by today's employers. It is the first law school to bring DepoSim into legal education.

“Legal education has a responsibility not only to teach students the law, but to prepare them for how law is practiced,” said Emily Pavuluri, Associate Director of the Vanderbilt AI Law Lab at the Vanderbilt Law School and Law Library. “We're intentionally exposing students to the technologies they're going to encounter in practice. We are building foundational competency across a range of emerging tools, so students understand what these systems can really do, ask sharper questions of them, and keep adapting as the tools change underneath them."

Unlike traditional mock depositions that require coordinating faculty, classmates, or hired actors, DepoSim immerses students in realistic, AI-powered deposition simulations featuring varying witness personalities, real-time objections from opposing counsel, and the unpredictability of actual litigation. Following each simulation, students receive immediate, rubric-based feedback on their questioning strategy and techniques, professionalism, responsiveness, and overall performance, enabling them to practice and refine their skills in a safe, repeatable environment.

“DepoSim allows us to get much closer to the realities of practice which include human-to-human interaction,” Pavuluri said. “The real world isn't perfectly scripted. Lawyers encounter different personalities, unexpected responses, and situations that require them to think on their feet, pivot, and have judgment. Simulation technology gives students somewhere to practice before a real client is depending on how they handle it. DepoSim helps students develop critical thinking skills, and demonstrates how AI can enhance education itself, not just provide productivity efficiency.”

Within the Legal Practice Technology and Law Firm Practice Simulation courses, students will experience DepoSim through instructor demonstrations, collaborative exercises, and hands-on simulations. Beyond the classroom, every Vanderbilt Law student will be able to access the platform independently through the Law Library, allowing them to practice on their own schedule regardless of whether they enroll in litigation-focused courses.

Vanderbilt students will gain access to simulations across commercial litigation, employment law, intellectual property, antitrust, securities, mass torts, and expert witness depositions. As AltaClaro expands the platform later this year, students will access additional simulations for trial practice, oral arguments, discovery, client interviews, and negotiation scenarios. The growing library will allow students to develop practical skills across a variety of legal disciplines, while also providing valuable exposure to different areas of litigation as they begin exploring potential career paths.

For AltaClaro, the partnership represents another milestone in helping bridge the longstanding gap between legal education and legal practice. More than 25 Am Law firms, including Orrick, Taft, Litter, and Brownstein, have adopted and deployed DepoSim to train their litigators since its release in February of this year.

“Law firms are increasingly looking for graduates who can contribute from day one, and that requires more than doctrinal knowledge,” said Abdi Shayesteh, CEO of AltaClaro. “Partnering with Vanderbilt Law School and its AI Law Lab gives students practical experience using the same type of AI-powered training technologies they're likely to encounter throughout their careers. Vanderbilt continues to demonstrate what forward-thinking legal education looks like by ensuring students graduate not only with strong legal fundamentals, but with the confidence and technological fluency today's profession demands.”

“We're hearing from law firms that they want graduates who have been exposed to AI tools and are prepared to evolve alongside technology,” Pavuluri said. “At Vanderbilt, we focus on providing foundational knowledge and exposure so they can work effectively with whatever technologies their future employers adopt. DepoSim demonstrates how AI can be used not just to produce legal work, but to help lawyers learn and develop throughout their careers.”

About Vanderbilt Law School

Founded in 1874 in conjunction with Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Law School has trained distinguished and influential lawyers, policymakers, and public servants for 150 years. Vanderbilt Law has established itself as a leader in designing programs that connect outstanding theoretical training to real-world experience relevant for 21st-century law practice.

About AltaClaro
AltaClaro is the pioneer and global leader in data-driven experiential legal training, helping law firms, legal departments, and law schools develop practice-ready lawyers. Through simulation-based courses, AI-powered feedback, and immersive learning tools grounded in its "Learn. Do. Review." methodology, AltaClaro turns theoretical knowledge into practical skill across more than 60 courses spanning transactional, litigation, and Generative AI practice areas. Its platform includes Benchmark360, which delivers AI-powered feedback on simulated written work product, and DepoSim, the first AI-powered deposition simulator for lawyers. AltaClaro is a recipient of the 2025 ALM Legalweek Leaders in Tech Law Award for Best Tech Training Provider and serves leading Am Law firms, in-house legal teams, and law schools training the next generation of attorneys. Learn more at www.altaclaro.com.

Jessi Adler
Plat4orm PR
jessi@plat4orm.com