AI Literacy: Maximize CLE Opportunities for Firms

Education is Key to Staying Ahead: Leveraging CLEs in the World of AI 

Continuing Legal Education courses, or CLEs, are common requirements for lawyers to complete for credit to remain in good standing with the local bar association. There are a variety of courses that can qualify for credit, often created internally by law firms to offer to their lawyers.

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CLE credit courses ensure that lawyers have the knowledge, skills, and awareness necessary to do their jobs well in a constantly changing legal environment. With the emergence of generative AI, law firms should consider the benefits of incorporating AI learning into their annual CLE courses to stay on top of best practices, understand the impact of AI technology on the legal landscape, and remain at the cutting edge of innovation and quality.

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An increasing number of firms are implementing generative AI to help improve efficiency across a variety of legal tasks, and generative AI is becoming a point of competitive advantage. As generative AI technology improves, its capabilities are continuously expanding, creating more opportunities for those who properly leverage AI in their work. For instance, learning about queries and inputting the right prompts allows lawyers to produce higher-quality outputs when interacting with AI technology. Generative AI’s ability to streamline and automate legal work has been shown to boost production as well.

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Understanding the Ethics: How CLEs Can Help Define the Generative AI Landscape 

The rapid adoption of generative AI by the legal industry has raised some concerns and received pushback. Legal professionals are constantly wondering about the ethics of using this tech. It’s important for CLEs covering AI technology to discuss these concerns so that lawyers can understand the ethical considerations as it applies to their everyday work and can develop an informed stance on AI technology and usage. 

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As AI develops and changes, laws defining its use have developed in tandem, and lawyers must understand the landscape of these laws. Several cases since the introduction of generative AI have brought the question of ethics to the forefront of conversation – specifically, where lawyers were found to have used AI to write legal proceedings, leaving a mark on their reputation. This is why lawyers must learn to utilize AI responsibly when applying it to their work and in trial settings.

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Regarding ethics, the White House issued an executive order by President Joe Biden in October that is considered the most “sweeping” set of AI guidelines to date. It aims to improve AI “safety and security”, requiring companies to provide transparency into how their models work and establishing a new set of standards for labeling AI-generated content. 

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Another major aspect of the executive order is that developers will have to share safety test results with the government if the technology poses a potential national security. Already, certain generative AI technologies have been tested and succeeded in meeting these standards; both OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Anthropic’s Claude 2 passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE). Both had no ethics training before the exam, which tests on principles of legal ethics.

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This is where CLEs come in. Making AI education part of the syllabus in CLEs will help equip lawyers with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate work in an AI-powered world. Without proper education on the capabilities and considerations of AI, it can be difficult to determine what’s reality versus what’s sensationalized. Case in point, recent headlines have reported on the potential of “ASI,” or artificial superintelligence, becoming a reality soon. However, most tech experts are skeptical.

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Lawyers know that it’s crucial to acquire CLE credits – and it’s advantageous for firms to partner with tech companies with expertise in AI to upskill their lawyers. Technology providers can host specialized training sessions and use-case workshops centered on educating lawyers on new legal technology. Partnering with tech companies in this way allows lawyers to learn about the various uses of AI as it applies to their work, and how to do so responsibly.

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AI is here and won’t be going away anytime soon; it is already being implemented in top firms, globally, throughout the legal industry. To stay ahead of the curve, lawyers need to be educated on how generative AI technology is being implemented, and how it can impact their work. CLE courses are a way to both receive the necessary credits as well as gain greater insight into technology that is becoming an essential part of law.

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Obtaining CLE Credits: DraftWise’s Guide for Firms

Now that we’ve discussed the importance of incorporating AI education into CLE courses, let’s discuss the opportunity DraftWise provides for firms as an AI technology provider. DraftWise clients can organize CLE classes with our Customer Success team focused on product training and education, with firm attendees receiving 1 hour of CLE credit (co-presenters may receive additional credits).

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Partnership with us is a seamless process — our Customer Success team provides a framework tailored for your firm and your firm’s users down to the practice group level. This process allows lawyers to deepen their understanding of the DraftWise product and AI technology as a whole.

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Partner with DraftWise to Obtain CLE Credits

To learn more about how your firm can partner with DraftWise to obtain CLE credits, reach out to our Customer Support team through support@draftwise.com, or ask your firm to set up a DraftWise training. 

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