September 24, 2026, the Oregon State Bar opens its fall calendar with “AI in Alternative Dispute Resolution: Practical Tools, Ethical Considerations, and Emerging Risks,” a webcast offering 3 General credits and 1.5 Ethics credits. According to the Oregon State Bar CLE page, it’s the first in a run of AI-themed listings stretching into November on the OSB CLE seminars schedule.
AI takes center stage in the OSB CLE seminars calendar
The lineup moves fast. On October 1, 2026, lawyers can attend “Using AI to Build a Better Elder Law and Estate Planning Practice” in person or by webcast, with 2.5 General credits and 1 Ethics credit, cosponsored by the Elder Law Section (OSB CLE page). A day later, October 2, 2026, the section continues with “Elder Law in Today’s Landscape,” which includes 4.75 General credits and 1 Oregon-specific Ethics credit.
Then the tools sessions arrive. The bar lists “Microsoft’s Copilot AI Solution” on October 21, 2026; “Prompt Engineering” on October 28, 2026; and “Cybersecurity and Legal Ethics” on November 4, 2026 (OSB CLE page). Formats vary, but the thread is clear: practical AI, ethical risk, and day-to-day workflow.
The message for Oregon practitioners is straightforward. AI training is moving from an optional extra to a core part of continuing education across practice areas, from mediation rooms to estate planning desks to firm IT playbooks.
What the Oregon State Bar CLE focus signals
Stacking AI topics across multiple dates signals demand that spans specialties, not just tech-forward firms. The ADR webcast tackles fairness, confidentiality, and practical tools for neutrals and advocates. The elder law programs tie AI to document workflows and planning practices where accuracy and client trust carry outsized weight. The Microsoft Copilot and prompt engineering sessions address daily production tasks many firms run inside Microsoft 365.
The legal ethics arc runs through the entire sequence. The ABA’s Model Rule 1.1, Comment 8 frames competence to include technology. OSB’s November 4 session on cybersecurity and legal ethics is a direct response to that duty. It meets lawyers where the risk sits: email, documents, client data, and fast-moving AI features shipping into the software they already use.
Dates, credits, and who should attend
Based on OSB’s listings, here’s where the value lands for common roles and practice settings:
- September 24, 2026 — AI in ADR (webcast): neutrals, litigators, and in-house counsel who settle often. Comes with 3 General and 1.5 Ethics credits (OSB CLE page).
- October 1, 2026 — AI for Elder Law and Estate Planning (in-person or webcast): solo and small firms, planners seeking speed without losing precision. Offers 2.5 General and 1 Ethics credit (OSB CLE page).
- October 2, 2026 — Elder Law in Today’s Landscape (in-person or webcast): broader context for that bar, with 4.75 General and 1 Oregon-specific Ethics credit.
- October 21, 2026 — Microsoft’s Copilot AI Solution: firms on Microsoft 365 seeking safe, repeatable deployment patterns.
- October 28, 2026 — Prompt Engineering: lawyers and staff who draft and review daily and want consistency in outputs.
- November 4, 2026 — Cybersecurity and Legal Ethics: anyone who handles confidential data, which is everyone in a firm.
These programs mix in-person and webcast options, which should make it easier to slot them around hearings and client work. For those tracking Oregon MCLE credits, the ethics hours attached to the September 24 and October 1 sessions help ease year-end pressure while keeping the focus on real practice risks.
Why this AI push is happening now
Cyber threats are shifting alongside legal tech. Attackers already use AI to automate reconnaissance, shape phishing language, and craft evasive payloads. That’s the view taught to security teams by the SANS Institute’s course on offensive AI tactics, which explains how adversaries apply AI “at every stage of an attack” (SANS). If criminals can scale targeting, lawyers must scale defenses and judgment.
Regulators and standards bodies are also publishing practical guidance. The NIST AI Risk Management Framework offers a structured way to inventory AI use, assess context-specific risks, and improve controls. An OSB session on cybersecurity and legal ethics aligns with that approach: understand the system, define acceptable use, and document decisions.
The business driver is simpler. Microsoft is pushing Copilot into the apps firms already own. Prompting is becoming a daily skill. Those two forces shrink the gap between “experiment” and “production.” A bar calendar with hands-on tools and ethics side by side helps lawyers keep pace without tripping over confidentiality or competence duties.
How to pick the right AI sessions from the OSB CLE seminars
Match sessions to live matters. If you mediate or arbitrate this quarter, start with the ADR webcast and then book the cybersecurity and ethics program. If your docket leans to wills and trusts, take the elder law AI class first, then revisit prompt engineering for template quality and audit trails.
Consider your stack. Firms committed to Microsoft 365 should prioritize the Copilot session before they flip any tenant-wide switch. Use that time to set document access boundaries and a policy for client data in prompts. If your team drafts often but stays tool-agnostic, prompt engineering will pay back quickly in clarity and fewer rewrites.
Keep an ethics ledger. Track when and how AI is used in your matters, which models or tools were involved, and any human review applied. That record will support confidentiality, supervision, and disclosure choices if a client, court, or regulator asks later. The OSB ethics offerings this fall are built to help you make and defend those calls.
The pattern is hard to miss. Through November, the OSB CLE seminars lineup treats AI as core practice literacy: concrete tools, paired with credits that reinforce duty and judgment. Oregon lawyers who lean in now will set habits and guardrails while the rest of the market is still catching up. For more on this, see microsoft.com.