Coalition Brief

A Stanford CodeX Initiative

The Keystone Initiative

The Keystone Initiative

The Keystone Initiative

Building the lawyers who can be trusted to supervise AI.

Building the lawyers who can be trusted to supervise AI.

01 — The Stakes

Competence has always been built by doing the work first.

Competence has always been built by doing the work first.

Competence has always been built by doing the work first.

AI now writes a fast-growing share of legal work. New attorneys are asked to review, sign, and stand behind work they were never trained to do. The chain that built judgment is breaking.

AI now writes a fast-growing share of legal work. New attorneys are asked to review, sign, and stand behind work they were never trained to do. The chain that built judgment is breaking.

1

Do the work

by hand, for years

2

Earn judgment

tacit, hard-won

3

Supervise AI

at unprecedented scale

⚠ The apprenticeship that built step 2 is disappearing.

02 — The Signal

Expert judgment, made visible.

Expert judgment, made visible.

Expert judgment, made visible.

The skill a senior attorney spends years absorbing hides in one place: the delta between one draft and the next — exactly what an expert changed, and the judgment behind it. Capture that signal, and judgment itself becomes teachable.

The skill a senior attorney spends years absorbing hides in one place: the delta between one draft and the next — exactly what an expert changed, and the judgment behind it. Capture that signal, and judgment itself becomes teachable.

Patent claim — draft v3 → v4

expert redline

A system that has comprising a processor for doing configured to execute operations stored in a non-transitory memory, and other things wherein the operations comprise…

A system that has comprising a processor for doing configured to execute operations stored in a non-transitory memory, and other things wherein the operations comprise…

One change at a time, the senior attorney’s reasoning becomes a teachable, testable signal.

03 — The Idea

A practice simulator for lawyers.

A practice simulator for lawyers.

A practice simulator for lawyers.

Pilots log hundreds of hours in a simulator before they fly. Attorneys should too. Trainees practice on realistic synthetic matters — free to fail — while we measure their skill against expert work. Only when they clear a proven bar are they cleared for real clients.

Pilots log hundreds of hours in a simulator before they fly. Attorneys should too. Trainees practice on realistic synthetic matters — free to fail — while we measure their skill against expert work. Only when they clear a proven bar are they cleared for real clients.

04 — The End-Game

The standard is the wedge. Public infrastructure is the destination.

The standard is the wedge. Public infrastructure is the destination.

The standard is the wedge. Public infrastructure is the destination.

Each rung stands on its own — and makes the next one possible.

Each rung stands on its own — and makes the next one possible.

05 — The Coalition

Positive-sum, end to end.

Positive-sum, end to end.

Positive-sum, end to end.

No one has to lose for this to work. Each stakeholder has its own reason to engage.

No one has to lose for this to work. Each stakeholder has its own reason to engage.

06 — Why Stanford, Why Now

No one moves first without a neutral place to stand.

No one moves first without a neutral place to stand.

No one moves first without a neutral place to stand.

Stanford authors ‘step zero’ — a vendor-neutral standard for contributing drafting deltas safely. Independently governed. Every firm keeps control of its own contributions. Neutrality isn’t a constraint on the opportunity; it’s what creates one.

Stanford authors ‘step zero’ — a vendor-neutral standard for contributing drafting deltas safely. Independently governed. Every firm keeps control of its own contributions. Neutrality isn’t a constraint on the opportunity; it’s what creates one.

Neutral

Housed at CodeX — no vendor owns the standard.

Governed

Independent oversight; firms retain control.

Provable

The premise is tested, not asserted.

07 — The Path Forward

What we are convening.

What we are convening.

What we are convening.

What gets built on the foundation is the coalition’s to decide. The opportunity: define, at its inception, how the profession trains the lawyers who will supervise AI.

What gets built on the foundation is the coalition’s to decide. The opportunity: define, at its inception, how the profession trains the lawyers who will supervise AI.

Leadership

Initiative Lead

Ian Schick

Ph.D., Esq.

Faculty Lead

Roland Vogl

Executive Director, Stanford CodeX

Initiative Team

David Johnson

Stanford Lecturer & Fellow

Initiative Team

Marzieh Nabi

Ph.D., Stanford CodeX

We welcome a conversation about joining the coalition.

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Stanford CodeX — The Center for Legal Informatics

Coalition Brief