A Note to the Reader
Before Chapter 1 — why this course exists and how to use it
You Did Not Pick This Up Because You Have Extra Time
Solo and small firm criminal defense practice is genuinely hard. Not hard in the way law school was hard — where the difficulty was intellectual and the stakes were a grade. Hard in the way that matters: you carry cases by yourself, you manage clients in crisis, you face prosecutors with institutional resources you will never match, and you run a business at the same time.
This course exists because AI tools have become genuinely useful for practitioners in your position — not as a replacement for legal judgment, but as a force multiplier for the time and attention you bring to every case. Used correctly, these tools let a solo practitioner do work that used to require a team. Used incorrectly, they create liability you cannot afford.
What this course is not: A technology review. A guide to cutting corners. A replacement for the judgment that makes you a good attorney. If you use AI to avoid thinking, it will eventually produce something that ends up in a motion, gets cited to a judge, and does not exist. This course will not help you do that.
How the Course Works
Each of the 11 chapters mirrors a chapter of the book. The Overview tab covers key concepts. The Prompts tab gives you ready-to-use prompts drawn directly from the text — adapt them for your practice, do not use them as scripts. The Quiz confirms your understanding.
Start with Chapter 1. It is the foundation for everything else and is explicitly marked as required reading in the book itself. Then work through the chapters in sequence, or jump to the chapters most relevant to your current practice needs.