Preface
[for Law Professors and Law Librarians]
Generative artificial intelligence is already reshaping both the practice and the pedagogy of law. Generative AI and the Delivery of Legal Services aims to give students an intellectually rigorous yet approachable guide to this fast-moving landscape. No background in computer science, mathematics, or coding is assumed. Instead, each chapter blends plain-language narrative, real-world examples, practice tips, and “concept call-outs” that translate AI jargon into everyday legal reasoning. Whether their comfort zone is torts or tensors, every student can engage confidently with the material and leave the course ready to spot AI opportunities and pitfalls in practice.
A Living Textbook
I chose to self-publish so the book can evolve at the pace of the technology it describes. New case law, regulatory guidance, and technical breakthroughs will be incorporated through rolling digital updates, sparing faculty and librarians the long delays of traditional publishing. Instructors who adopt the text will receive an email alert whenever substantive revisions are posted, and students always have access to the current edition through an institutional or individual account by subscribing at genailawtextbook.com. The text is available at no cost; the only requirement is that students register at the url cited above and subscribe to the LawDroid Manifesto newsletter for regular updates.
Pedagogical Design
The chapters are scaffolded around three pillars:
- Flipped-Classroom Friendly – Short “minilecture” videos precede each class session, freeing in-person time for hands-on exercises and discussion. Professors can adopt the videos wholesale or use them as optional review material.
- Many-Doors Learning – Because students absorb information differently, the core narrative is supplemented with podcasts, interactive quizzes, and an AI-powered chatbot tutor that answers questions drawn solely from the book’s content, then offers formative multiple-choice checks. Visual, auditory, and interactive “doors” all lead to the same doctrinal destination.
- Capstone Integration – The course funnels into an “AI Implementation Plan,” modeled on Andrew Ng’s AI transformation playbook. Students synthesize doctrinal, ethical, and strategic lessons into a written report and a 20-minute presentation, demonstrating mastery in a manner that resists ghost-writing by the very tools they are studying.
How to Use This Book
Generative AI and the Delivery of Legal Services is modular. You might:
- adopt the full twelve-chapter sequence for your course,
- assign selected chapters for a professional responsibility seminar, or
- place the text on reserve for independent study.
Each chapter includes:
- Learning Objectives and Key Terms for quick alignment with your syllabus.
- Practice Problems that can serve as in-class prompts or homework.
- Further Reading lists curated for law-library holdings and open-access sources.
Quiz banks (with answer keys) and sample grading rubrics are available upon request to verified faculty. Librarians will find persistent URLs, and a changelog in the appendix.
An Invitation
This is my first book, and I view its readers, and the professors and librarians who guide them, as collaborators. Your feedback on its clarity, depth, and classroom utility will steer future updates. Please write to me at tom@lawdroid.com with suggestions, adoption stories, or requests for guest lectures. Together we can equip the next generation of lawyers to wield AI responsibly, creatively, and in service of justice.
Thank you for considering this text as part of your teaching and collection-development toolkit. I look forward to learning from you and your students as the field evolves.