You can't become "smart" just like that and "learn to think". It takes years od dedicated effort to reach that stage. Getting into a competitive school takes just that - years of dedicated effort.
> "smart guy with access to AI tools" can perform as well as any other trained lawyer
You are seriously understating the ability of a trained lawyer and overstating the ability AI tools.
> "smart guy with access to AI tools" can perform as well as any other trained lawyer
You are seriously understating the ability of a trained lawyer and overstating the ability AI tools.