AI-Assisted Research, Drafting & Review
AI assistants can research, draft, summarize, and review in minutes, but they can also invent citations, drop the exception that decides your facts, and state a superseded rule with confidence. This course gives lawyers, accountants, and consultants a working discipline for AI-assisted research and drafting: the assistant drafts and summarizes, and the professional verifies every citation, authority, figure, and conclusion. You'll learn the verification rule with no exceptions, how to test summaries and tie out figures, and how to sample a large document review with intent. You'll finish with a one-page standard and a pre-send checklist for everything that leaves under your name.
Course details
Duration
1h 22m 00s
Lectures
15
Video
1.5 hours
Quizzes
1
Level
Beginner
Course Description
AI can produce a finished-looking memo, contract, or workpaper in minutes. It can also cite authorities that don't exist, summarize an old version of a standard, and report a clause as missing when it sits in a schedule. This course teaches the discipline that makes AI-assisted work safe to sign: it drafts, you verify, you sign.
What you'll learn
- Framing research questions with jurisdiction, date, and facts, and handling the recency problem
- The verification rule for every authority, and the tells of a fabricated citation
- Testing summaries against the source, and the version-conditions-numbers discipline for standards and tax work
- Briefing first drafts, sampling document reviews with intent, and tying out workpaper figures
- Editing drafts into your voice, quality review, and an error log that improves the firm
- Data rules, disclosure to clients and courts, and supervising juniors who use AI
Who it's for
Lawyers, accountants, consultants, and the associates, staff, and reviewers who research, draft, and review client work with AI.
15 short video lessons in three modules: Research; Drafting and Review; and Discipline.
This course is educational and is not legal, accounting, tax, or professional-responsibility advice. Your firm's policies and professional rules govern.
Module 1: Research
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1.1 Research With an AssistantFraming questions, where the answers come from, and the recency problem.
In this lesson:
- Frame a research question so an assistant is useful
- Distinguish general model knowledge from retrieval against a controlled source
- Handle the recency problem before relying on any answer
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1.2 Fabricated Citations and How to Catch Them
Why assistants invent authorities, the verification rule with no exceptions, and the tells.
In this lesson:
- Explain why AI assistants produce citations that don't exist
- Apply the verification rule to every authority without exception
- Recognize the tells that signal a fabricated citation
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1.3 Summarizing Authorities and Records
How summaries distort authorities and records, and the accuracy checks against the source.
In this lesson:
- Identify the common ways AI summaries distort authorities and records
- Run the accuracy check on any summary with the source open
- Treat a summary as a claim about a document, never as the document
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1.4 Accounting and Tax Research
Standards, guidance, and thresholds — the same verification discipline with sharper numbers.
In this lesson:
- Use an assistant for orientation and drafting in standards and tax work
- Recognize the specific failure modes of AI in accounting and tax research
- Apply the version-conditions-numbers-conclude discipline to any position
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1.5 Research Memos
Structure, the sourcing rule, and the reviewer's checklist for an AI-assisted memo.
In this lesson:
- Build a research memo with an assistant in the right order
- Apply the sourcing rule to every proposition in the memo
- Review an AI-assisted memo against the reviewer's checklist
Module 2: Drafting and Review
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2.1 First Drafts
Contracts, letters, workpapers, reports — the assistant's draft, the professional's document.
In this lesson:
- Brief an assistant properly for a first draft
- Know what a first draft is and isn't, by document type
- Run the first-draft review before anyone else sees the document
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2.2 Document Review and Extraction
Clause extraction, comparison, and summary across a set — and sampling for accuracy.
In this lesson:
- Use extraction, comparison, and summary tools for what they do well
- Recognize where extraction fails and why errors cluster
- Sample a large review with intent and record the reliance
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2.3 Workpapers and Audit Support
Drafting workpapers with an assistant, the tie-out discipline, and what the tool must never assert.
In this lesson:
- Use an assistant to draft workpaper narrative without letting it perform the work
- Apply the tie-out discipline to every figure
- Keep the tool from asserting anything a professional must attest
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2.4 Editing Into Your Voice and Standard
The professional's obligations in every sentence, and the edits that turn a draft into your document.
In this lesson:
- Name the obligations every sentence carries once you send it
- Make the edits that matter most to an AI draft
- Run the ownership pass before any document leaves
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2.5 Quality Control
The review standard for AI-assisted work, what the reviewer looks for, and the error log.
In this lesson:
- Apply the firm's review standard to AI-assisted work
- Review for the error patterns specific to AI drafts
- Keep an error log that improves training, tools, and process
Module 3: Discipline
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3.1 The Data Rules
Client information, privilege, and approved tools — the discipline before the first prompt.
In this lesson:
- Identify the client information that never enters an unapproved tool
- Protect privilege and confidentiality when using an assistant
- Apply the approved-tool rule per tool and per data class
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3.2 Disclosure to Clients and Courts
When and how AI use is disclosed, at principle level as of September 2026.
In this lesson:
- Recognize where disclosure of AI use comes up as of September 2026
- Disclose plainly, specifically, and truthfully
- Keep disclosure and verification separate: one never replaces the other
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3.3 Supervision of Juniors Using AI
The supervisor's obligations, teaching judgment while the tool drafts, and reviewing a junior's AI-assisted work.
In this lesson:
- Apply supervision duties to AI-assisted work by juniors
- Redesign how juniors learn judgment when the tool does the first pass
- Review a junior's AI-assisted work for the verification, not only the product
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3.4 Composite Cases
Three anonymized failures — a filing, a tax position, a diligence review — and the check that would have caught each.
In this lesson:
- Trace how each composite failure got past a professional
- Identify the single check from the standard that would have caught it
- Recognize that each failure was a skipped step, not a bad tool
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3.5 Your Research and Drafting Standard
The one-page standard, the pre-send checklist, and your next matter; the finale.
In this lesson:
- Adopt a one-page research and drafting standard for AI-assisted work
- Run the pre-send checklist before anything leaves under your name
- Complete AI-Assisted Research, Drafting & Review
AI-Assisted Research, Drafting & Review — Final Exam
Learn at your own pace
Study the materials at your convenience, you can always return to them to repeat
Certificate of completion
Complete every lesson and pass the final exam to earn a RiseCert certificate of completion you can download and share.
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Got Questions? We've Got Answers!
Answers to the most common questions about this course.
What is the AI-Assisted Research, Drafting & Review course?
AI-Assisted Research, Drafting & Review is a RiseCert online course for lawyers, accountants, and consultants who use AI to research, draft, summarize, and review client work. It teaches one standard: the assistant drafts and summarizes, and the professional verifies every citation, authority, figure, and conclusion. It includes 15 video lessons (about 1 hour 25 minutes) and a final exam.
Who should take a course on AI research and drafting for professionals?
Lawyers, accountants, tax professionals, and consultants who use AI assistants for research memos, contracts, letters, workpapers, reports, or document review. Associates, staff accountants, and analysts benefit, and so do partners, managers, and reviewers, because the course covers supervising juniors who use AI and reviewing AI-assisted work to the firm's standard.
Why do AI tools make up citations?
A general AI assistant generates text that resembles its training material, and a citation is a pattern of name, reporter, number, and year that the model can complete with no record behind it. The more specific the question, the more specific the invention. Fabricated authorities often appear beside real ones, formatted identically, which is why the course requires opening every one.
How do I verify AI-generated citations and authorities?
The course teaches a four-step rule with no exceptions: open the authority in a trusted source, not the assistant's quotation; read the cited passage at the pinpoint; confirm it is still good, with no overruling, amendment, or superseding guidance; and initial and date the check. Asking the assistant whether its own citation is real is not verification.
Can AI be used for accounting and tax research?
Yes, for orientation, finding relevant paragraphs, issue spotting, draft analysis, and plain-language explanations. The course shows how it fails in standards and tax work, including superseded standards, wrong effective dates, invented paragraphs, and stale thresholds, and teaches a discipline: the right version for the period, conditions tested by you, numbers recomputed, and your own conclusion.
Does the course cover AI document review and due diligence?
Yes. A lesson covers clause extraction, deviation flagging, version comparison, and set summaries, and explains why errors cluster on unusual documents and 'not found' results. You'll learn to sample with intent, read zero-tolerance fields such as change of control in full, and record the tool, sample, error rate, and who read what so the reliance is visible.
Do I have to disclose AI use to clients or courts?
Sometimes. As of September 2026, some courts require certifications about AI-assisted filings, some engagement terms require notice or consent, and professional duties of competence and candor still apply. The course teaches a principle-level decision: is it required, would the client or forum expect it, what exactly to say. Disclosure never replaces verification.
What will I be able to do after completing the course?
You'll be able to frame research questions an assistant can answer usefully, catch fabricated and superseded authorities, test summaries against the source, build and review an AI-assisted memo, brief first drafts, tie out workpaper figures, edit drafts into your own voice, run quality control, apply data and disclosure rules, and supervise juniors using AI.
Do I need technical skills or prior AI experience?
No. The course is written for practicing professionals, not technologists, and there is no coding. It assumes you already know your own field's research and drafting work. The lessons focus on how to brief an assistant, where its output goes wrong, and the verification habits that keep AI-assisted work at a professional standard.
Which AI tools does the course cover?
The course is vendor-neutral and covers categories of tools rather than products: general assistants, research tools that retrieve from a controlled database, drafting assistants, and extraction and comparison tools for document review. No specific product is required or endorsed. The course emphasizes using only tools your firm has approved, in their approved configuration and scope.
How long is AI-Assisted Research, Drafting & Review?
The course has about 1 hour 25 minutes of video across 15 lessons, plus a final exam. Lessons run about five to six minutes each and are organized into three modules: Research; Drafting and Review; and Discipline. Most learners finish in two or three sittings.
Is the course content up to date?
Yes. The course is dated as of September 2026, including its treatment of how AI research tools work and of disclosure expectations from courts, clients, and professional bodies. Because tools and rules keep changing, it anchors on durable habits: frame the question, open every source, test every figure, own every sentence, and review to the work's standard.
Is the course online and self-paced?
Yes. The course is 100% online and self-paced, and your access does not expire. You can start, pause, and resume at any time on a computer, tablet, or phone with a modern web browser. There's nothing to install.
Is there a final exam?
Yes. The course ends with a 30-question multiple-choice final exam covering all three modules. You need a score of 80% or higher (24 of 30) to pass, and you can retake the exam as many times as you need. Finish all 15 lessons and pass the exam to complete the course and earn your certificate.
Do I get a certificate of completion?
Yes. After you complete all 15 lessons and pass the final exam, you can download a RiseCert certificate of completion from your account. It is a course completion certificate, not a license, professional certification, or continuing education (CLE or CPE) certificate.
Does the course count for CLE or CPE credit?
No. The course is not currently approved for continuing education credit of any kind, including CLE for lawyers or CPE for accountants, by any bar, board, or accrediting body. For required credit hours, take a course approved by the relevant body. This course complements that training with practical AI research and drafting skills.
Is this course legal, accounting, or ethics advice?
No. AI-Assisted Research, Drafting & Review is educational and is not legal, accounting, tax, or professional-responsibility advice. It teaches principles and habits for AI-assisted work, but it can't tell you what your rules require on a specific matter. Your firm's policies, the professional rules that bind you, and local law govern.
Does the course cover client confidentiality when using AI?
Yes. Module 3 opens with the data rules: confidential, privileged, nonpublic, personal, and sealed information never enters a tool not approved for it. Approval is per tool and per data class, inputs are minimized, logs are treated as records, and cross-matter memory is managed. If client data goes into the wrong tool, it is reported the same day.
How much does the course cost, and can I enroll my team?
The course costs $99 per learner as a one-time purchase, with no subscription or recurring fees. To enroll a practice group, department, or whole firm, contact RiseCert through the Contact Us page at risecert.org.
What is the refund policy?
All sales are final and no refunds are issued, as stated in the RiseCert Terms of Use. Please review the course description, lesson list, and these FAQs before purchasing, and contact RiseCert with any questions first.