The Solari Standard

The Standard on AI Governance in Law

v2026.1 · Published

The published body of knowledge stating what a practitioner certified in AI governance in law must know and be able to do. The examination is built to it, and it is written to be read by the firms, clients, and courts that rely on the credential.

Version 2026.1 Public and versioned Revised at least annually
Definition

What AI governance in law means

AI governance in law is the set of duties, controls, and firm-level structures that make an attorney's use of AI defensible: the professional responsibilities that attach when a tool touches a matter, the policies and supervision that govern its use, and the records that show both were observed.

The Standard states that body of knowledge in full, including the weight each domain carries on the examination, so the credential can be evaluated on its contents. It covers duties, frameworks, statutes, and firm-level controls. It does not teach prompt technique, and it does not review tools.

How it works

Three properties define the Standard

Published
Readable by the people who rely on it
The domains, their scope, and their examination weights are stated on this page. A managing partner evaluating the credential can read what it certifies before an attorney enrolls.
Versioned
Dated, numbered, and superseded in the open
Each release carries a version number, and every certificate records the version it was examined against. A credential earned under 2026.1 states so, and an older credential remains legible.
Maintained
Kept current on an annual cycle
A monthly tracking discipline follows developments in AI law and professional regulation and produces at least one versioned revision each year. Holders maintain currency through the annual update module.
Abstract network of connected nodes and lines against a pale background.
Version 2026.1
The national core: six domains

The core body of knowledge for AI governance in law, weighted by share of the examination. The weights are the blueprint: each examination form is built to these proportions, so the emphasis a candidate encounters is the emphasis stated here.

I
Foundations: AI systems, agents, and failure modes
How the systems work in the terms a practitioner needs, and more importantly how they fail. Fabrication, silent error, drift, and the distinct risks introduced when a system is permitted to act rather than only to answer.
10%
of the exam
II
Professional responsibility in AI use
The duties that attach the moment a tool touches a matter: competence, confidentiality, communication, candor to the tribunal, supervision of subordinate lawyers and nonlawyer assistance, and fees.
30%
of the exam
III
The firm's AI governance program
The NIST AI Risk Management Framework and ISO/IEC 42001 concepts, the governing instruments a firm needs in writing, and the vendor and incident controls that make a policy operate in practice.
20%
of the exam
IV
The law governing the lawyer's own AI use
The statutes that reach the lawyer's own AI use, taught as a map and a method for reading new law as it arrives. The firm is treated as the regulated party, a posture most practitioners have not been trained to take about their own practice.
15%
of the exam
V
AI work product: verification, ownership, privilege, and records
What has to happen between a model's output and a filing or a client deliverable. Verification that holds up, who owns the result, whether privilege survives the tool, and what the record must show afterward.
15%
of the exam
VI
Court-facing and litigation use
Standing orders and disclosure regimes, certification obligations, the sanctions record, and how to run an AI-assisted matter so that the process survives being examined by an opposing party or a court.
10%
of the exam

Human rights due diligence runs through the Standard as a connecting thread. Where an AI system affects people who are not the client, the diligence question is a governance question, and the Standard treats it as one.

Jurisdiction endorsements

How jurisdiction endorsements extend the core

An endorsement extends the Standard to one jurisdiction's discipline machinery, professional conduct rules, statutes, and court requirements. Each endorsement is versioned separately from the national core.

Every course is issued as a professional certification. The Institute makes no continuing legal education claim in any jurisdiction until that jurisdiction's approval is in hand.

AGL National Core
The six domains above and the core examination. Open to attorneys in any United States jurisdiction, and the prerequisite for every endorsement.
California Endorsement
California's discipline machinery, its professional responsibility rules as applied to AI, its AI statute stack, and California Rule of Court 10.430. Enrollment is open, and provider accreditation with the State Bar of California is in progress.
UAE Endorsement
The federal, free-zone, sector, and judicial layers of the UAE's AI regulatory architecture, including DIFC Regulation 10 and the DIFC Courts' guidance on generative AI in proceedings. Enrollment opens soon on pre-order.
England and Wales Endorsement
Practice in England and Wales, following the same structure as the California and UAE endorsements. The body of knowledge is in development and the endorsement is not yet issued.
Assessment

How the Standard is examined

The credential follows a passed examination. The terms below are stated publicly so a candidate knows them before enrolling and a firm evaluating the credential knows what was tested.

The Form
Forty items, blueprinted
The core examination is a forty-item form of scenario-heavy multiple choice, built to the domain weights published above. The California endorsement examination is sixteen items across its examinable units.
The Cut
Seventy-five percent to pass
Thirty of forty on the core, twelve of sixteen on the California endorsement. A failed attempt carries one included retake within fourteen days, with items presented in randomized order.
The Record
An exportable audit trail
Pass or fail, score, item responses, and time in content are recorded and exportable, from the first candidate forward.

Examination conditions: The examination is currently unproctored and open book; conditions are recorded in the version record.

Governance of the Standard

How the Standard is governed and revised

The Standard is owned, issued, and versioned by the Solari Institute, which holds the revision authority.

A monthly tracking process follows developments in AI law, professional regulation, and the technology, and feeds at least one versioned revision each year. The prior version remains identified, every certificate records the version it was examined against, and holders maintain currency through the annual update module.

The Institute is a private certifying body. It is not a bar association, a regulator, or an accreditor, and it claims no continuing legal education credit in any jurisdiction until that jurisdiction's approval has issued.

View the certification All Solari Standards About the Institute
Common questions

Yes. This page publishes the Standard's scope, its six domains, and the examination weight each domain carries. The readings, worked examples, and templates that teach the Standard are delivered inside the certification.

The Solari Institute, which holds the revision authority. Certification and advisory work are kept separate in both directions: earning the credential never requires engaging Solari as an advisor.

At least once a year, fed by a monthly tracking discipline covering AI law, professional regulation, and the technology. Each release is numbered and dated, and jurisdiction endorsements are versioned separately from the national core.

The Institute is a private certifying body and is not accredited by a bar association or a regulator. Continuing legal education accreditation is pursued jurisdiction by jurisdiction, and no CLE, MCLE, or CLPD credit is claimed anywhere until that jurisdiction's approval has issued.

Nothing retroactive. Your certificate records the version you were examined against, and that record stands. Currency is maintained through annual recertification, which covers the core credential and every endorsement you hold and includes the update module for what changed. Fee terms are stated at registration.