In additional evidence that parts of the academic world are catering for the growing field of legal AI, the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California (USC) has introduced a certificate in Law and AI. It covers legal issues related to the development and use of AI, including privacy, IP, antitrust law and ethics. Interestingly, no law degree or LSAT is required to apply for the Law and AI certificate.
Meanwhile, the UC Berkeley Law Executive Education department in Northern California is offering a new online short course: Generative AI for the Legal Profession. (See below for more details.)
In terms of the Los Angeles-based course at USC, Franita Tolson, Gould School of Law Dean and the Carl Mason Franklin Chair in Law, commented: ‘As AI reshapes the legal industry, it is imperative that legal professionals possess the expertise to leverage the transformative potential of AI while also addressing the associated legal and ethical considerations.
‘Our cutting-edge curriculum provides practitioners with the specialized knowledge and skills needed to thrive in this evolving legal area.’
The law school stated that this qualification could be of use to the following:
- Practitioners who seek to deepen their expertise in law and AI,
- Professionals whose current roles would be enhanced by AI training,
- Academics who seek to sharpen their understanding and credentials in the developing trends of artificial intelligence and the law,
- Recent graduates seeking to further their career goals and identify how developments in AI are reshaping the legal landscape, the emergent legal, ethical and privacy challenges, and its broader societal implications.
—
Meanwhile, as noted above, the UC Berkeley Law Executive Education department in the San Francisco Bay area is offering a new online short course: Generative AI for the Legal Profession. Here are the details:
Type of course: Executive Education certificate course for legal professionals
Length: Self-paced online. Three-week recommended schedule; 1-2 hours per week; under 5 hours total
Fee: $800 as of August 2024
Description: Generative AI for the Legal Profession is an online course designed for lawyers and others in the legal industry who are interested in harnessing the power of deep learning models. Participants will learn about generative AI, explore a range of use cases, and discover ethical and responsible ways to integrate generative AI into their work.
Led by Wei Chen, a seasoned general counsel experienced in AI applications, the program offers interactive exercises and discussions on prompt engineering and managing AI risks such as hallucination and confidentiality.
Generative AI for the Legal Profession will help attorneys, paralegals, and legal operations professionals, among others, master key AI skills and shape the future of legal practice.
See: law.berkeley.edu for more information.
—
The new courses are further proof that some law schools are adapting to the changing landscape as genAI steadily makes an impact across the legal sector.
Moreover, as every new ‘law and AI’ course comes into existence it will encourage others to follow the same path, steadily spreading such educational opportunities across the US and the rest of the world.
—
[ Pic: RT, photo of Santa Monica beach at dawn in Los Angeles, because even though it’s miles away from USC, I really love this view. ]