Learning Roadmap

AI for Lawyers — 6-Week Roadmap

For: Attorneys, paralegals, and legal professionals who want to use AI to work faster and serve clients better — no technical background required.6 weeks
1

Week 1: AI Foundations for Legal Professionals

Milestones

  • Can explain what a large language model is and how it generates text
  • Understand the difference between ChatGPT, Claude, and legal-specific AI tools
  • Completed 10 practice prompts using a general-purpose AI tool
  • Can articulate key risks of AI in legal work (hallucination, confidentiality, UPL)

Resources

  • What Is an LLM? (Glossary)
  • AI Tools Comparison Cheatsheet
  • Prompt Engineering Basics (Tutorial)
  • ABA Formal Opinion 512 on Generative AI
2

Week 2: AI-Powered Legal Research

Milestones

  • Used AI to summarize a court opinion and verified accuracy
  • Can write prompts that specify jurisdiction, court level, and date range
  • Tested AI research output against Westlaw/Lexis results for reliability
  • Created a personal prompt template for case law research

Resources

  • AI for Legal Research (Topic Deep-Dive)
  • CoCounsel by Thomson Reuters (Tool)
  • Harvey AI (Tool)
  • Prompt Engineering Cheatsheet
3

Week 3: Contract Review and Drafting

Milestones

  • Used AI to extract key terms from a sample contract
  • Had AI compare two contract versions and identify material differences
  • Generated a first draft of a standard agreement from a prompt
  • Understand when AI drafting is appropriate versus risky

Resources

  • AI for Contract Review (Topic Deep-Dive)
  • SpotDraft AI (Tool)
  • Contract Clause Extraction Prompt Templates
  • Ethical Guardrails for AI-Drafted Documents
4

Week 4: Document Summarization and Due Diligence

Milestones

  • Summarized a 50+ page document using AI with accurate key points
  • Created a due diligence checklist using AI for a sample transaction
  • Can chunk large documents effectively for AI analysis
  • Built a workflow for AI-assisted document review

Resources

  • AI for Document Review (Topic Deep-Dive)
  • Working with Long Documents in Claude (Tutorial)
  • Kira Systems (Tool)
  • Due Diligence AI Workflow Template
5

Week 5: Client Communication and Legal Writing

Milestones

  • Used AI to draft a client advisory letter and refined it to your voice
  • Generated a legal memo outline with AI assistance
  • Created email templates for common client communications
  • Can edit AI-generated legal writing to meet professional standards

Resources

  • AI for Client Communication (Topic Deep-Dive)
  • Legal Writing with AI (Tutorial)
  • AI Email Writing Cheatsheet
  • Plain Language Legal Writing Guide
6

Week 6: Building Your AI-Enhanced Practice

Milestones

  • Established a personal AI usage policy aligned with bar ethics rules
  • Identified 3-5 recurring tasks in your practice to automate with AI
  • Set up AI tools with appropriate data security for client information
  • Created a 90-day plan for expanding AI use across your practice

Resources

  • AI Ethics & Responsible Use (Topic Hub)
  • State Bar AI Guidelines Directory
  • AI Security Best Practices for Law Firms
  • Building an AI-Enhanced Legal Practice (Tutorial)

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