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About the course

Responsible AI for Public Sector Legal Professionals

COMING SOON: This two-part course is designed for public sector legal professionals at all levels who are interested in learning more about safe and responsible individual use of GenAI tools. These free, online at-your-own-pace courses are designed for public sector lawyers and legal support staff to enable safe and responsible exploration and use of GenAI in your day-to-day work.
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Via hands-on activities and demos that are consistent with guidance provided by the American Bar Association, these courses explore how AI is transforming the legal profession and how lawyers and their offices can responsibly use AI to better serve the public. 

Want to offer these courses to your team for Continuing Legal Education (CLE) credit? Partner with InnovateUS to add live modules that fulfill your state's requirements.

At-your-own pace

Innovative activities to apply lessons to your own work

This course complies with WCAG2.1 web accessibility standards

Certificate of completion that may be applied to CLE requirements in eligible states

Course materials tailored to the public lawyer and their office

Advisory Committee Members

  • Sahana Ayer, Chief Counsel, California Department of Technology, State of California

  • Scott Baker, AI Director, Georgia Technology Authority, State of Georgia

  • John Basl, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Northeastern University

  • Michael Baskin, Chief Innovation Officer, Office of the County Executive, Innovation Team, State of Maryland

  • Howard Barr, Principal Counsel – Assistant Attorney General, Department of Information Technology, State of Maryland

  • Judson Cary, Sr. Assistant Attorney General, Colorado Attorney General’s Office, State of Colorado

  • Christine Ciccotti, Chief Counsel, Department of General Services, State of California

  • Leah Granger, Liaison for Special Projects & Legal Librarian, San Francisco City Attorney’s Office

  • Spencer Hill, Human Rights Attorney III, Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, State of Connecticut

  • Jessica Klein, General Counsel, Arizona Department of Administration, State of Arizona

  • Eric J. Kolbeck, Assistant Attorney General | Litigation Support Services & Records Division Manager, Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, State of Minnesota

  • Christina Kovach, Deputy General Counsel, Executive Office of Tech Services and Security, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

  • Anne Lee, Chief Transformation Officer, Colorado Attorney General’s Office, State of Colorado

  • Michael McDermott, Director of Education and Development, Office of the New York State Attorney General, State of New York

  • Tom Myers, General Counsel/Chief Privacy Officer, Executive Office of Technology Services and Security, Commonwealth of Massachusetts

  • Gabriel Ravel, Chief Counsel, California Government Operations Agency, State of California

  • Richard Schanz, Chief Legal Counsel, Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities, State of Ohio

  • Ramesh Thambuswamy Chief Privacy Officer and Attorney, Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, State of Ohio

Course curriculum

1. Part 1: Introduction

Overview of the course, including its learning objectives and relevance for legal professionals in the public sector. The opening explains why you will want and need to know about AI. Suitable for government lawyers and legal staff at all levels, the course explores how AI is transforming the legal profession and how lawyers can responsibly use AI to better serve the public.

2. Explaining GenAI and machine learning

Describes the basics and capabilities of GenAI and machine learning and how these technologies differ. Explains what large language models (LLMs) are and how they process data and what’s happening under the hood when you type something in. Introduces how public sector lawyers can use GenAI to conduct their work more efficiently and effectively while safeguarding privacy.

3. Overcoming risks: Your individual use

Reviews ethical risks, including hallucination, mistakes, and privacy concerns, that are relevant to using GenAI in the context of public sector legal practice. Discusses practical approaches to addressing and mitigating risks.

4. How Generative AI can help your day-to-day

Introduces typical use cases compatible with GenAI in public sector legal applications. Provides a framework for responsibly identifying suitable work tasks for its application, including emerging innovations and case studies.

5. Generative AI best practices

Offers best practices for using GenAI with skills like prompt engineering, complemented by interactive exercises to test and confirm any acquired knowledge. Discusses retrieval augmented generation (RAG), how legal staff can use RAG technology to ensure privacy and reliability, and how this approach differs from large language models (LLM).

6. Part 1: Conclusion

The final module summarizes learnings from across the course about the safe and responsible individual use of GenAI tools and their value for public sector legal professionals.

7. Part 2: Introduction

Overview of the course, including its learning objectives and relevance for legal professionals in the public sector. Provides an overview of the learning objectives and course curriculum. The course aims to equip public sector lawyers with the skills needed to safely and responsibly design of AI policies and projects and their social impact.

8. Overcoming risks: Data governance

Discusses best practices for data segregation and the use of “walled gardens.” Discusses the Criminal Justice Information Security (CJIS) standard and how to ensure compliance. Distinguishes between tasks that require paid AI tools versus those that can be handled by free tools and how to evaluate AI vendors.

9. Designing your own projects: From concept to creation

Guides learners through the process of identifying problems within their own work that AI tools can help to solve. Explains how to take these solutions from idea to implementation, covering the process of developing and implementing AI-enabled tools. Profiles several existing AI tools built by public sector legal offices.

10. Societal challenges

Explores the ethical implications of employing GenAI at a societal level and dissects potential challenges like copyright infringement, deep fakes, astroturfing, issues related to private platforms, and the challenge of developing effective and proactive AI regulation. Additionally, this module delves into ongoing efforts aimed at mitigating these risks.

11. Writing your own AI governance and use policy

Guides legal professionals on how to develop and implement an AI acceptable use policy for their office in line with best practices for data governance when using AI tools.

12. Part 2: Course conclusion

The final module summarizes learnings from across the course about the safe and responsible design of AI policies and projects and their social impact.

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