Recorded August-September 2024

In its early days, gasoline was considered a fascinating, powerful, transformative—and potentially dangerous—new invention. It was only after the combustion engine had been fully developed that gasoline’s volatility was harnessed into a safer and more useful innovation. Today, generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI)—a type of AI that creates text, images, and other content—is akin to gasoline in terms of the scope of its revolutionary impact, its potential dangers, and the rapid changes currently taking place attempting to harness it and make it more useful. If immigration lawyers are to properly acclimate to, and have a voice in influencing, these changes, we must be Gen AI literate. It is with this in mind that AILA has created the AI in Immigration Law Live Online Course.

Who Should Take this Course
This course is designed to bring both experienced and novice practitioners up to speed regarding the latest innovations and best practices in Gen AI. Attorneys and AILA Affiliated Paralegals are encouraged to take the course to hear AILA’s expert instructors define what Gen AI is and discuss ways of responsibly using, adapting to, and utilizing this revolutionary technology to increase productivity.

What to Expect
The program consists of four discussion panels and two guided practice sessions, presented over six weeks. The August sessions introduce the nuts and bolts of Gen AI, addressing key concepts and terms used in the technology and how to incorporate Gen AI into your practice. The September sessions examine the protocols and safeguards required to use Gen AI productively and ethically. Each session includes guided practice with Gen AI tools.

• Four 90-minute webinars, including:
  • Lectures
  • Demonstrations and guided practice
  • Q&A
• Practical learning
  • Two 60-minute study group sessions (optional): faculty-led demonstrations with hands-on learning
  • Independent practice: exercises designed to continue learning and build skills
• Access to recordings of webinars
• AILA Course Discussion Board
  • Ask questions on AI-specific immigration issues
  • Connect with speakers and colleagues
  • Learn new Gen AI-usage techniques and receive valuable feedback

Week 1: Harnessing AI in Your Immigration Practice

Session 1: How to Get Started: Understanding the Power and Potential of Gen AI
Wednesday, August 14, 2024, 1:00 pm ET
Discover why being fluent in Gen AI matters—almost as much as legal knowledge—for your practice. This session will explain what Gen AI is, why you need it in your practice, and what you can and should do right now to incorporate it into your business.

• Introduction to Gen AI and common terms
• Basic rules of engagement, responsible use of AI
• 20 things you can safely do with Gen AI in your practice today
• How to develop a Gen AI habit that saves you valuable time per day
  • Best practices for a quick start
• Introduction to prompt engineering
  • How to ask the questions of your Gen AI that will yield reliable results

Faculty:
James Chesser (DL), AI in Immigration Law Planning Committee Chair, Fountain Inn, SC
Juan Jose Amell, Innovation and Technology Committee, The Woodlands, TX
Carolyn Elefant, Law Offices of Carolyn Elefant, Bethesda, MD
Monica Zent, Chairman & CEO, ZentLaw, Founder, LawDesk360, Advisory Board, Law Innovation Agency, Sunnyvale, CA

Session 2: Implementing Gen AI in Business Strategies
Friday, August 16, 2024, 1:00 pm ET
In this session, you will learn how various Gen AI platforms can help you build a better practice. Instructors will focus on the practical issues that arise when using this technology, including clear prompt writing, the use of Gen AI assistants, and domain-specific applications.

• Using is learning with Gen AI: what various products can teach us
  • Copilot (inside your M365 and outside, on Edge browser)
  • ChatGPT
  • Google’s Gemini
  • Visalaw’s GEN
• Prompt engineering: what it is and what it isn’t
• Creating three-step prompts and fact pattern prompts
• Hone your writing skills: why the chief Gen AI architect and other experts believe English majors will rule the future of Gen AI
• Learning to recognize and resolve mistakes

Faculty:
James Chesser (DL), AI in Immigration Law Planning Committee Chair, Fountain Inn, SC
Elina Magaly Santana, Miami, FL
Priyanka Kulkarni, Former Principal Science Manager, Azure AI, Microsoft, Seattle, WA
Thomas G. Martin, Founder/CEO LawDroid, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Week 2: Independent Practice

August 19 - 23, 2024

Week 3: Guided Practice Session 1 (Optional)

Thursday, August 29, 1:00 pm ET
A closer look at prompt engineering: honing your prompt writing skills

Faculty:
Catherine Sanders Reach, Director, Center for Practice Management at North Carolina Bar Association, Cary, NC

Week 4: Independent Practice

September 2 - 6, 2024

Week 5: Deploying Gen AI in Your Immigration Practice

Session 3: How to Safely and Ethically Incorporate Gen AI into Your Business
Wednesday, September 11, 2024, 1:00 pm ET
Now that you know how to use Gen AI and have become aware of its potential value, it is time to create your implementation plan and develop user trainings. Lawyers must consider special issues to ensure Gen AI is used safely and ethically by their staff. Protocols and training are discussed, and practical day-to-day challenges that may arise will be addressed.

• First steps to ethically integrate Gen AI into your workplace
  • The ethics rules that apply
  • Reading the “Terms of Use” statement and understanding your product’s source material
  • Reviewing your malpractice policy and adding notice to your fee agreement
  • Checking permissions and writing your Gen AI use policy
  • Implementation in your firm: Integration, training, and supervision plan

Faculty:
James Chesser (DL), AI in Immigration Law Planning Committee Chair, Fountain Inn, SC
Charity Anastasio, Practice and Ethics Counsel, AILA Practice and Professionalism Center, Washington, D.C.
Gregory Howard Siskind, AILA Author, AILA’s Immigration Law Practice and Procedure Manual: A “Cookbook” of Essential Practice Materials, 3rd ed., Memphis, TN
Michele N. Carney, AILA Ethics Committee/ Innovation and Technology Committee, Seattle, WA
Emily M. Lamm, Associate Attorney, Gibson Dunn, Washington, D.C.

Guided Practice Session 2 (Optional)
Friday, September 13, 2024, 1:00 pm ET
Take a deep dive into MS Copilot and Visalaw’s GEN

Faculty:
Charity Anastasio (DL), Practice and Ethics Counsel, AILA Practice and Professionalism Center, Washington, D.C.
Gregory Howard Siskind, AILA Author, AILA’s Immigration Law Practice and Procedure Manual: A “Cookbook” of Essential Practice Materials, 3rd ed., Memphis, TN

Week 6:

Session 4: Review of the Current Landscape: Gen AI Products for Immigration
Thursday, September 19, 1:00 pm ET
As the marketplace grows and matures, new products and services abound. In this session, instructors review some of the most current and useful Gen AI tools now available for your practice. Our experts will also explore some of the emerging trends within Gen AI to look for in the coming months and years.

The disruptive, explosive future: Is language more than words?

• An overview of the Gen AI products and services landscape: top picks for immigration lawyers
• Government use of Gen AI in immigration: Be prepared for the future!
• Customizing Gen AI to benefit your clients and satisfy firm needs
  • Getting your data in order
  • RAG Technology, NVIDIA’s Workbench, and Blackwell
  • Creating your own ChatGPT
• Next Steps: Continuing your learning

Faculty:
James Chesser (DL), AI in Immigration Law Planning Committee Chair, Fountain Inn, SC
Michael A. Harris, Innovation and Technology Committee, Miami, FL
Julie C. Pearl, President, Pearl-Colman Foundation, Palo Alto, CA
Eric Martínez, Dickerson Fellow & Instructor in Law at the University of Chicago Law School, Chicago, IL
Tina Zedginidze, Co-Founder and COO, CaseBlink, San Francisco, CA

Registration Disclaimer: Participation in this AILA online course is solely restricted to AILA members and nonmember attorneys. Non-attorney attendance is limited to employees of AILA members in good standing, HR professionals who have an AILA member reference, employees of accredited educational institutions providing support to international student and scholar services at their employing institutions, and accredited representatives under 8 CFR §292.2. AILA does not permit course participation by persons who provide representation without authorization in violation of 8 CFR §292.1, such as for-profit "immigration consultants" and “notarios.”