Course Overview

Generative artificial intelligence has moved from novelty to daily tool in law practice, and courts, bar regulators, and clients now expect lawyers to understand what it does. This course explains, in plain terms, how a large language model produces text, why it can be fluent and confidently wrong at the same time, what the published legal research studies show about hallucination rates, and how the three tiers of tools available to law firms differ in capability and in what happens to the data a lawyer gives them.

The course then grounds that technical knowledge in professional responsibility: the duty of technology competence under ABA Model Rule 1.1 comment 8 and Florida Rule 4-1.1, the guidance in ABA Formal Opinion 512 and Florida Bar Ethics Opinion 24-1, the signer’s representation under amended Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.515(d)(2), and the sanctions decisions that show what happens when verification is skipped.

It is designed for attorneys, paralegals, and legal staff at small and mid-size firms who want a reliable foundation before adopting these tools or supervising others who use them. Learners finish with a decision rule for matching tools to tasks, the Six-Step Validation Checklist for reviewing AI output, and a 30-day starter plan for competent, supervised use. The course is designed for Florida CLE accreditation; CLE accreditation is pending.

What You Will Learn

• Explain how a large language model produces text one token at a time and why its output can be fluent, confident, and wrong.
• Distinguish rule-based legal software, machine learning tools, and generative AI, and define the core vocabulary of context window, grounding, retrieval-augmented generation, fine-tuning, and agents.
• Identify the legal tasks generative AI performs well and the hallucination rates reported in published legal research studies.
• Compare the three tiers of generative AI tools available to law firms and analyze where prompts and documents go under each vendor's published data-handling terms.
• Apply a three-factor decision rule (data sensitivity, consequence of error, availability of grounding) to match a tool to a legal task.
• Recognize the duty of technology competence under ABA Model Rule 1.1 comment 8, Florida Rule 4-1.1, ABA Formal Opinion 512, and Florida Bar Ethics Opinion 24-1.
• Apply the Six-Step Validation Checklist to AI output in light of amended Florida Rule 2.515(d)(2) and recent sanctions decisions.
• Implement a 30-day starter plan for safe, supervised use of generative AI in a small firm.

Who Should Take This Course

• Attorneys at small and mid-size firms
• Paralegals, legal assistants, and litigation support staff
• Firm administrators responsible for technology decisions
• Lawyers preparing to evaluate or adopt generative AI tools

Course Outline

1. Section 1: What Generative AI Is (and Is Not)
   • Lesson 1.1: From Rule-Based Software to Generative Models
   • Lesson 1.2: How a Language Model Produces Text
   • Lesson 1.3: The Vocabulary You Need
   • Quiz 1: What Generative AI Is (and Is Not)
2. Section 2: Capabilities and Limits
   • Lesson 2.1: What These Tools Do Well in Legal Work
   • Lesson 2.2: Why They Hallucinate and What the Legal Evidence Shows
   • Lesson 2.3: Bias, Currency, Inconsistency, and the Limits of Self-Awareness
   • Quiz 2: Capabilities and Limits
3. Section 3: The Legal AI Landscape (Current as of October 2026)
   • Lesson 3.1: Three Tiers of Tools
   • Lesson 3.2: Where Your Data Goes
   • Lesson 3.3: Matching Tools to Tasks
   • Quiz 3: The Legal AI Landscape
4. Section 4: Professional Foundations
   • Lesson 4.1: The Duty of Technology Competence and the Two Anchor Opinions
   • Lesson 4.2: The Verification Imperative
   • Lesson 4.3: Your First 30 Days
   • Quiz 4: Professional Foundations
5. LGTAI101 Final Exam (20 questions, 80 percent to pass)

Course Details

• Level: Basic
• Instruction: 78 narrated minutes (1 hour 18 minutes), plus quizzes and a final exam
• Prerequisites: None
• Format: Self-paced online course with narrated lessons, interactive exercises, section quizzes, and a graded final exam

Materials Included

• Student handbook (PDF)
• Quick reference card: tool-to-task decision rule and the Six-Step Validation Checklist (PDF)
• Glossary of generative AI terms for lawyers (PDF)
• Source and further reading list with links (PDF)

Continuing Legal Education

This course is designed for Florida CLE accreditation (anticipated request: 1.5 General, 1.5 Technology). CLE accreditation is pending; no credit is approved until The Florida Bar issues a course number.

How to Use This Course

• Complete the sections in order; each builds on the last.
• Work through every interactive exercise before taking the section quiz.
• Pass each quiz and the final exam with a score of 80 percent or higher to earn your certificate of completion.
• Keep the student handbook and quick reference card for use in practice.

Current as of October 2026. Product names, vendor policies, rules, and court decisions discussed in this course change; the course is reviewed on an annual cycle.