Skills · 5 courses
Prompt Engineering Courses for Lawyers
Prompt engineering is the single most transferable AI skill for a lawyer. A well-structured prompt with role, context, constraints and an output format turns a general chatbot into a reliable drafting assistant, and the same technique works in Harvey, Legora, CoCounsel and Lexis+ AI.
The courses below teach prompting specifically for legal work rather than generic productivity. The AI Lab for Lawyers is the most intensive live option; Vanderbilt's specialization is the deepest self-paced one; Berkeley's power-user course and Osgoode's forum include dedicated prompting sessions.
Curated by Dr. Niklas Schmidt
The shortlist
Prompt Engineering Courses for Lawyers: all 5 options
Maven / Wolf Theiss
AI Lab for Lawyers
The hands-on live course taught by a practising partner: 8 hours of building prompts, agents and workflows on real legal tasks. Rated 4.8/5 by 320 lawyers.
Format
Live online cohort
Duration
8 hours (4 × 2 h) + ~2 h homework
Fee
€200 per seat
≈ €25/h
UC Berkeley Law
GenAI for the Legal Profession: Power User Edition
Berkeley Law's self-paced power-user course with live jam sessions, led by Infoblox CLO Wei Chen. 6.5 California MCLE credits.
Format
Self-paced online + optional live sessions
Duration
~8 hours over 4 weeks
Fee
$950 ($800 alumni / public sector)
≈ €109/h
Vanderbilt University
Generative AI for Legal Services Primer
The highest-rated free course for lawyers on Coursera (4.8/5). Four hours on GenAI fundamentals, legal prompting and professional responsibility.
Format
Online, self-paced (Coursera)
Duration
~4 hours
Fee
Free to audit
Vanderbilt University
Prompt Engineering for Law Specialization
A three-course specialization on prompt engineering and building custom GPTs for legal work. 12,000+ enrolled, 4.8/5.
Format
Online, self-paced (Coursera)
Duration
3 courses · ~4 weeks at 10 h/week
Fee
Coursera subscription (audit free)
Osgoode PD
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Law
Osgoode's two-day online forum on AI regulation, governance, AI-generated evidence, IP and prompt engineering, accredited for 11.75 CPD hours. 27–28 October 2026.
Format
Live online webcast
Duration
2 days
Fee
CAD 1,895 + tax
≈ €106/h
Side by side
Compare: Prompt Engineering Courses for Lawyers
| Format | CLE / CPD | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI Lab for LawyersMaven / Wolf Theiss · Best hands-on course | Live online | 8 hours (4 × 2 h) + ~2 h homework | €200 per seat | €25 | – | 4.8/5 | All Levels |
| GenAI for the Legal Profession: Power User EditionUC Berkeley Law | Self-paced | ~8 hours over 4 weeks | $950 | €109 | 6.5 CA MCLE credits | – | Intermediate |
| Generative AI for Legal Services PrimerVanderbilt University · Best free course | Self-paced | ~4 hours | Free | €0 | – | 4.8/5 | Beginner |
| Prompt Engineering for Law SpecializationVanderbilt University · Best prompt engineering specialization | Self-paced | 3 courses · ~4 weeks at 10 h/week | Coursera subscription | – | – | 4.8/5 | Intermediate |
| Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the LawOsgoode PD · Best in Canada | Live online | 2 days | CAD 1,895 + tax | €106 | 11.75 CPD hours (LSO, LSBC) | – | Intermediate |
Questions
Prompt Engineering Courses for Lawyers: FAQ
What is prompt engineering for lawyers?
The practice of writing instructions to an AI model that reliably produce accurate, well-structured legal output: specifying the role, the facts, the governing law, the format, the tone and the checks the model should perform before answering.
Do I need technical skills?
No. Prompt engineering is closer to drafting instructions to a junior associate than to programming. The courses listed assume no coding background.
Which tools do these courses use?
Most use ChatGPT and Claude as the teaching platform because the skills transfer everywhere. The AI Lab for Lawyers also covers Perplexity, NotebookLM and legal-specific platforms such as Harvey and Legora, plus autonomous agents.
Editor's choice · 4.8/5 from 320 lawyers
Ready to use AI in your practice this month?
The AI Lab for Lawyers is 8 live hours of hands-on practice with a partner who uses AI every day, for €200. Cohorts run monthly and sell out, so join the waitlist for the next one.