The human skills behind effective AI use and excellent legal practice.
Developing the human skills lawyers need to think clearly, work effectively and deliver excellent client service as AI becomes part of legal practice.
AI is changing how lawyers access information, prepare work and approach everyday tasks. Making effective use of it requires sound judgement, critical thinking, clear communication and the confidence to question an answer, recognise its limitations and decide when human involvement is essential.
These skills have always been central to effective legal practice. As AI becomes more widely used, lawyers need to apply them in new ways—evaluating AI-generated information, maintaining accountability for their work and translating readily available information into advice that reflects a client’s circumstances and priorities.
Professional Training’s Essential Skills for Legal Practice in the Age of AI range brings together three complementary strands of development:
Strengthening the human skills that become more important as AI use grows
Developing the judgement, communication, emotional intelligence, leadership and relationship skills that underpin effective legal practice and trusted client relationships.
Developing the essential skills needed to work effectively with AI
Helping lawyers give clear instructions, evaluate outputs, challenge assumptions, apply professional judgement and recognise when to pause, check or seek further input.
Applying essential skills with AI alongside
Adapting established courses in areas such as client excellence, delegation, decision-making and stakeholder management to reflect how lawyers work when AI is available to support them.
Training that reflects your firm’s stage of AI adoption
The right development priorities will depend on how your firm is using AI. For firms where use is limited, sessions can strengthen core skills and build understanding of why they matter in an increasingly AI-enabled profession. For firms already using AI, training can address the practical demands of working alongside it, including reviewing work, supervising colleagues and preserving opportunities for learning.
Each course teaches the essential skill, with AI integrated where it is relevant to the learning and your firm’s working practices. Sessions can be tailored to participants’ experience, your firm’s approach to AI and the challenges your lawyers face.
As AI changes how legal work is carried out, skills such as critical thinking, communication, client understanding and professional judgement become increasingly valuable. These courses develop capabilities that legal professionals need throughout their careers. They are delivered without a focus on AI, making them relevant to firms at any stage of adoption.
Using AI effectively requires people to make informed choices about the work they give it, assess what it produces and remain accountable for the result. These courses focus directly on those human skills, from giving clear instructions and verifying outputs to exercising professional judgement, protecting confidential information and supervising AI-assisted work. They help legal professionals use AI with confidence while recognising when further investigation or human involvement is essential.
These courses teach essential skills in the context of legal work where AI may now play a part. Participants develop the skill itself, whether that is writing clearly, managing a matter or making effective decisions, considering where AI can support its application.
- Making Effective Decisions in an AI-Enabled Law Firm
- Critical Thinking in the Age of AI
- Strategic Thinking in an AI-Enabled Law Firm
- Effective Writing Skills in an AI-Enabled Law Firm
- Client Excellence in an AI-Enabled Law Firm
- Becoming a Trusted Advisor to Your Clients in an AI-Enabled Law Firm
- Presentation Skills and the Use of AI
- Time Management in an AI-Enabled Law Firm
- Introduction to Matter Management in an AI-Enabled Law Firm
- Understanding Effective Communication and the Use of AI
- Emotional Intelligence in the Age of AI
- Influencing Skills in the Legal Sphere in the Age of AI
- Negotiation Skills for Lawyers in an AI-Enabled Firm
- Managing Client Expectations in the Age of AI
- Stakeholder Management in an AI-Enabled Law Firm
- Delegation in an AI-Enabled Law Firm
- Coaching Skills for Partners in an AI-Enabled Law Firm
- Applying Professional Judgement in an AI-Enabled Firm
As legal professionals, the ability to deconstruct complex matters in a manner that resonates with clients is paramount.
Throughout this course, we will unravel the intricacies of problem-solving, honing in on what clients truly seek when it comes to resolving their issues, and give you an effective framework that will enable you to give better thought-out strategic advice to clients and colleagues.
Objectives:
- How to deconstruct issues in a way that clients appreciate
- What clients are looking for when it comes to resolving their issues
- What are the good critical questions to ask?
- What is a good formula when giving strategic advice?
- After careful analysis, why are legal issues and practical realities not always aligned?