Ethics Under Fire: Navigate AI in Legal Practice

About Course

Artificial intelligence is transforming legal practice — but it’s also creating unprecedented ethical challenges. Ethics Under Fire: Navigating AI in Legal Practice equips attorneys, paralegals, and law students with the knowledge and tools to ethically integrate AI into their work. Using real-world examples, case studies, and the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, this course helps participants confidently navigate the legal and professional pitfalls of AI adoption.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Identify and apply key ABA Model Rules and state equivalents to AI-related scenarios.

Evaluate the risks and benefits of AI tools in legal practice.

Implement safe, ethical, and effective AI usage policies in their organizations.

Recognize and mitigate issues related to bias, data security, and accuracy in AI outputs.

Respond appropriately to opposing counsel’s misuse of AI-generated work.

Key Topics Covered

Technological competence and AI literacy for lawyers.

Client confidentiality and secure data handling in AI contexts.

Ensuring accuracy, candor, and honesty in AI-assisted legal work.

Recognizing and addressing algorithmic bias.

Supervising AI as a “nonlawyer assistant” under ethics rules.

Drafting and implementing firm AI usage policies.

Course Content

Introduction & Framing
An overview of the rapid adoption of AI in legal practice, recent court opinions on AI use, and evolving client expectations. This segment also reviews the CLE ethics rules focus: ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and relevant state equivalents.

Competence & Technology (Rule 1.1)
Examination of the duty to maintain technological competence. Discussion of AI’s capabilities and limitations, including the risk of hallucinations. Includes examples of sanctions against lawyers who relied blindly on AI outputs.

Confidentiality & Data Security (Rule 1.6)
Analysis of the risks of inputting client data into AI tools. Review of vendor terms of service, data retention policies, and safe usage practices such as anonymization and choosing secure local or cloud-based AI solutions.

Accuracy, Candor, and Honesty (Rules 3.3, 4.1, 8.4)
Understanding the duty of candor to tribunals and truthfulness to others. Exploration of the dangers of AI-generated false citations and practical steps for verification before submitting AI-assisted work.

Bias, Fairness, and Discrimination (Rules 8.4(g), 1.5, 1.7)
A look at how algorithmic bias can impact legal decisions, including jury selection, hiring, and predictive policing tools. Discussion of the lawyer’s role in ensuring AI outputs do not perpetuate unlawful bias.

Supervision & Responsibility (Rules 5.1, 5.3)
Review of the lawyer’s duty to supervise nonlawyer assistants — including AI tools. Clarification of the distinction between permissible delegation and improper outsourcing of judgment. Guidance on setting internal firm policies for AI use.

Practical Risk Mitigation & Best Practices
Strategies for drafting AI usage policies, performing due diligence before adopting AI vendors, and using checklists to review AI outputs.

Q&A / Hypotheticals
Interactive discussion of fact patterns: A lawyer uses ChatGPT to draft a brief — what’s the risk? A client insists on AI to reduce billable hours — how should you respond? Opposing counsel files an AI-generated motion with fake citations — what’s your ethical duty?

Ethics Under Fire: Navigate AI in Legal Practice

About Course

What Will You Learn?

Course Content

Introduction & Framing
An overview of the rapid adoption of AI in legal practice, recent court opinions on AI use, and evolving client expectations. This segment also reviews the CLE ethics rules focus: ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and relevant state equivalents.

Competence & Technology (Rule 1.1)
Examination of the duty to maintain technological competence. Discussion of AI’s capabilities and limitations, including the risk of hallucinations. Includes examples of sanctions against lawyers who relied blindly on AI outputs.

Confidentiality & Data Security (Rule 1.6)
Analysis of the risks of inputting client data into AI tools. Review of vendor terms of service, data retention policies, and safe usage practices such as anonymization and choosing secure local or cloud-based AI solutions.

Accuracy, Candor, and Honesty (Rules 3.3, 4.1, 8.4)
Understanding the duty of candor to tribunals and truthfulness to others. Exploration of the dangers of AI-generated false citations and practical steps for verification before submitting AI-assisted work.

Bias, Fairness, and Discrimination (Rules 8.4(g), 1.5, 1.7)
A look at how algorithmic bias can impact legal decisions, including jury selection, hiring, and predictive policing tools. Discussion of the lawyer’s role in ensuring AI outputs do not perpetuate unlawful bias.

Supervision & Responsibility (Rules 5.1, 5.3)
Review of the lawyer’s duty to supervise nonlawyer assistants — including AI tools. Clarification of the distinction between permissible delegation and improper outsourcing of judgment. Guidance on setting internal firm policies for AI use.

Practical Risk Mitigation & Best Practices
Strategies for drafting AI usage policies, performing due diligence before adopting AI vendors, and using checklists to review AI outputs.

Q&A / Hypotheticals
Interactive discussion of fact patterns: A lawyer uses ChatGPT to draft a brief — what’s the risk? A client insists on AI to reduce billable hours — how should you respond? Opposing counsel files an AI-generated motion with fake citations — what’s your ethical duty?

Closing Remarks
Recap of key takeaways and final ethical considerations.

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About Course

What Will You Learn?

Course Content

Introduction & Framing An overview of the rapid adoption of AI in legal practice, recent court opinions on AI use, and evolving client expectations. This segment also reviews the CLE ethics rules focus: ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and relevant state equivalents.

Competence & Technology (Rule 1.1) Examination of the duty to maintain technological competence. Discussion of AI’s capabilities and limitations, including the risk of hallucinations. Includes examples of sanctions against lawyers who relied blindly on AI outputs.

Confidentiality & Data Security (Rule 1.6) Analysis of the risks of inputting client data into AI tools. Review of vendor terms of service, data retention policies, and safe usage practices such as anonymization and choosing secure local or cloud-based AI solutions.

Accuracy, Candor, and Honesty (Rules 3.3, 4.1, 8.4) Understanding the duty of candor to tribunals and truthfulness to others. Exploration of the dangers of AI-generated false citations and practical steps for verification before submitting AI-assisted work.

Bias, Fairness, and Discrimination (Rules 8.4(g), 1.5, 1.7) A look at how algorithmic bias can impact legal decisions, including jury selection, hiring, and predictive policing tools. Discussion of the lawyer’s role in ensuring AI outputs do not perpetuate unlawful bias.

Supervision & Responsibility (Rules 5.1, 5.3) Review of the lawyer’s duty to supervise nonlawyer assistants — including AI tools. Clarification of the distinction between permissible delegation and improper outsourcing of judgment. Guidance on setting internal firm policies for AI use.

Practical Risk Mitigation & Best Practices Strategies for drafting AI usage policies, performing due diligence before adopting AI vendors, and using checklists to review AI outputs.

Q&A / Hypotheticals Interactive discussion of fact patterns: A lawyer uses ChatGPT to draft a brief — what’s the risk? A client insists on AI to reduce billable hours — how should you respond? Opposing counsel files an AI-generated motion with fake citations — what’s your ethical duty?

Closing Remarks Recap of key takeaways and final ethical considerations.

Office

Contact Us

Other Services

Introduction & Framing
An overview of the rapid adoption of AI in legal practice, recent court opinions on AI use, and evolving client expectations. This segment also reviews the CLE ethics rules focus: ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and relevant state equivalents.

Competence & Technology (Rule 1.1)
Examination of the duty to maintain technological competence. Discussion of AI’s capabilities and limitations, including the risk of hallucinations. Includes examples of sanctions against lawyers who relied blindly on AI outputs.

Confidentiality & Data Security (Rule 1.6)
Analysis of the risks of inputting client data into AI tools. Review of vendor terms of service, data retention policies, and safe usage practices such as anonymization and choosing secure local or cloud-based AI solutions.

Accuracy, Candor, and Honesty (Rules 3.3, 4.1, 8.4)
Understanding the duty of candor to tribunals and truthfulness to others. Exploration of the dangers of AI-generated false citations and practical steps for verification before submitting AI-assisted work.

Bias, Fairness, and Discrimination (Rules 8.4(g), 1.5, 1.7)
A look at how algorithmic bias can impact legal decisions, including jury selection, hiring, and predictive policing tools. Discussion of the lawyer’s role in ensuring AI outputs do not perpetuate unlawful bias.

Supervision & Responsibility (Rules 5.1, 5.3)
Review of the lawyer’s duty to supervise nonlawyer assistants — including AI tools. Clarification of the distinction between permissible delegation and improper outsourcing of judgment. Guidance on setting internal firm policies for AI use.

Practical Risk Mitigation & Best Practices
Strategies for drafting AI usage policies, performing due diligence before adopting AI vendors, and using checklists to review AI outputs.

Q&A / Hypotheticals
Interactive discussion of fact patterns: A lawyer uses ChatGPT to draft a brief — what’s the risk? A client insists on AI to reduce billable hours — how should you respond? Opposing counsel files an AI-generated motion with fake citations — what’s your ethical duty?

Closing Remarks
Recap of key takeaways and final ethical considerations.