⚖️ Free course · 12 lessons · Start here
AI Legal Research Foundations
A free safety-first course for non-lawyers: legal information versus advice, SOURCE method, jurisdiction, source verification, lawyer briefs, and red flags.
Your first win: Separate legal information from legal advice and verify sources before relying on AI.
1. Legal information is not legal advice
AI can explain legal information, but it cannot replace a lawyer's judgment
2. The SOURCE method
Research starts with facts, jurisdiction, official sources, validation, and escalation
3. What law applies where?
Jurisdiction matters: South African law is not US, UK, or Australian law
4. Find the legal issue, not just the emotion
“This is unfair” must become a legal research question
5. Use AI to build a legal research plan
AI is useful for planning searches and keywords, not as the final authority
6. Sources of law in plain English
Constitution, Acts, regulations, by-laws, cases, court rules, contracts, and policies are different sources
7. Cases and precedents in plain English
A case matters because of the rule it decides, not because it sounds similar
8. Never trust a case until you verify it
Check the case exists, citation, court, date, paragraph, and proposition
9. Read legislation without panic
Definitions, scope, exceptions, commencement, amendments, and regulations matter
10. Ask AI to explain a case you provide
Paste the real judgment and ask for issue, rule, facts, outcome, and caveats
11. Build a legal question for a lawyer
The best use of AI may be preparing a clear attorney brief
12. When to stop researching and get help
Deadlines, court papers, threats, arrests, eviction, custody, and money claims need human help