LUSAKA - Zambia has admitted 378 new legal practitioners this year after a repeat sitting of the 2026 Legal Practitioners' Qualifying Examination produced 161 successful male candidates and 217 successful female candidates.
The milestone was marked by a warning from the Zambia Institute of Advanced Legal Education (ZIALE) against relying too heavily on artificial intelligence in legal practice.
Speaking to ZANIS, ZIALE Director and Chief Executive Officer Fabian Mayondi urged the newly admitted practitioners to uphold the reputation of the institution and contribute positively to the development of the legal profession.
Mr. Mayondi said the new lawyers were expected to become good ambassadors of ZIALE and contribute to the growth of law, jurisprudence and democracy in Zambia.
He also cautioned the practitioners against treating artificial intelligence as a substitute for independent legal thinking, saying technology cannot replace certain aspects of professional judgment.
Mr. Mayondi further highlighted the limited capacity of Zambia's law firms to absorb all graduates produced by ZIALE.
He said the institute was therefore considering developing its own infrastructure to create opportunities to absorb some of its graduates.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice Dr. Mumba Malila told the newly admitted practitioners that integrity remains the overriding test of fitness to practise law, emphasising the importance of ethical conduct in the legal profession.
The admission of the 378 practitioners adds new advocates to Zambia's legal profession at a time when demand for legal services continues to grow across commercial, constitutional and electoral matters.
Source: ZANIS