Curriculum · 1L required

AI for Legal Practice

A required one-credit course that prepares every first-year W&L Law student to understand, check, and responsibly use AI before classes begin.

At a glance

Who takes it: Every incoming first-year student (required)
Credit: One credit
When: Before the academic year begins, including orientation
Format: Recorded modules, then interactive orientation workshops
Instructors: Prof. Josh Fairfield and Nate Reynolds ’22L
Tool: Harvey, the legal AI platform students use in the course and beyond

About the course

The course treats AI as a professional skill with real stakes. Students learn what these systems are doing when they produce an answer, where they go wrong, and what a lawyer has to do before relying on an output. A short technical grounding is paired with exercises built around professional habits: checking sources, and knowing when to rely on a tool and when to think independently.

As Prof. Fairfield puts it, “If AI hallucinates, it’s our license on the line.”

How it’s structured

Pre-course modules (about 2 hours, recorded)

Students complete two short units before arriving. Cognitive security covers protecting your own ability to think, analyze, and learn as AI becomes routine in legal work. AI fundamentals covers how large language models work, what they can and can’t do, and how to use them effectively inside Harvey.

Orientation workshops (6 hours, interactive)

In-person sessions on how AI generates text, why it sometimes fabricates information, and when an output can be trusted versus when it needs checking. Students also compare retrieval-based legal research with general-purpose AI and practice verifying sources.

Closing segment

Readings, demonstrations, and group exercises on when AI improves legal work, when independent analysis is essential, and how overreliance on technology can weaken learning and professional judgment.

What students take away

Use AI competently and ethically

Know what the tools are for, and the professional duties that come with using them.

Verify what it produces

Check outputs and sources before anything reaches a client, a court, or a colleague.

Protect core thinking skills

Keep the analytical habits legal education is meant to build, even when a tool can do the first draft.

Treat AI as a tool, not a substitute

Support legal judgment instead of replacing it.

Instructors

Josh Fairfield

William Donald Bain Family Professor of Law and Director of Artificial Intelligence Legal Innovation Strategy at W&L Law. Full profile

Nate Reynolds ’22L

W&L Law graduate and litigation and intellectual property associate at Cleary Gottlieb, who has researched how AI is changing discovery and other practice areas.

Course materials

The syllabus, readings, and student exercises aren’t posted publicly yet. For questions about the course, get in touch with the Institute.

Teaching Students to Think Like Lawyers in the Age of AI — W&L Columns, August 2026

Washington & Lee Requires AI Training Before 1L Classes Begin — TaxProf Blog, October 2026

Washington & Lee introduces required 1-credit course on “AI for Legal Practice” — Leiter Reports, October 2026