Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and the Practising Law Institute (PLI) have launched a free, 12-module training course open to all law students and legal professionals. The curriculum covers AI uses, best practices, and the ethical risks that come with deploying the technology in legal work.
The course is designed to address a pressing gap in legal education: most lawyers and law students have not received formal training on how to use AI tools responsibly. As firms and courts increasingly adopt AI for tasks like document review and legal research, the demand for structured guidance has grown.
What the course covers
The 12 modules walk through practical applications of AI in legal settings, from automating routine tasks to managing the ethical obligations that arise when relying on machine-generated output. The material is intended to help users understand both the capabilities and the limits of current AI tools.
The training is free and available to anyone in the legal field, not just Northwestern students or PLI members. That open-access model reflects the collaborators' view that AI literacy should be a baseline skill across the profession.
For legal professionals seeking structured skill development, the AI Learning Path for Paralegals offers a similar practical approach focused on document review and legal research automation. Broader coverage of AI for Legal topics includes use cases, best practices, and risk management.
Why ethics is central
The course places ethics at the core rather than treating it as an afterthought. That includes questions about client confidentiality, the duty of competence, and how to verify AI-generated work product before it reaches a filing or a client.
Legal professionals who use AI without understanding its failure modes risk malpractice claims or sanctions. The training aims to give users a framework for assessing when AI output can be trusted and when human review is mandatory.
Why this matters for legal professionals
For lawyers, paralegals, and law students, the practical takeaway is direct: AI competence is becoming a professional expectation. Clients are asking about AI use, courts are issuing rules about it, and firms are hiring for it.
The free, self-paced format means there is no barrier to entry. A lawyer who completes the course gains a credential that signals readiness to handle AI-related work - and, more importantly, the judgment to know where the technology falls short.
Your membership also unlocks:
