arXiv — Machine Learning · · 3 min read

Closing the Loop: Formally Verified Law as a Reward Signal for Self-Improving Legal AI

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Computer Science > Machine Learning

arXiv:2606.23913 (cs)
[Submitted on 22 Jun 2026]

Title:Closing the Loop: Formally Verified Law as a Reward Signal for Self-Improving Legal AI

Authors:Armin Heydari (Harvard University), Torben Leowald (Columbia University)
View a PDF of the paper titled Closing the Loop: Formally Verified Law as a Reward Signal for Self-Improving Legal AI, by Armin Heydari (Harvard University) and 1 other authors
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Abstract:This article develops an architecture that creates a formally verifiable reward signal to train legal AI, adapting the LLM proposes, verifier disposes paradigm from mathematical AI to the distinctive demands of law. We present an architecture comprising LLM-driven autoformalization into a formal legal calculus extending Catala, a verification kernel, and explanation generation grounded in formal proof traces. For the computational components of law, the architecture provides provable correctness. For open-textured legal analysis, it provides structural guarantees: every required stage of the legal argument is addressed, argumentation is exercised at the correct stages and not omitted, and the deductive links between steps are valid. We demonstrate the architecture on procedural deadline calculations in German law, Commerce Clause analysis in U.S. constitutional law, and cross-jurisdictional sanction proportionality. We further show that the same architecture has a structural advantage for legal AI training: a deterministic external verifier supplies verifiable outcomes for legal problems and thereby closes the traditional reinforcement-learning loop gap in law.
Comments: 14 pages, no figures
Subjects: Machine Learning (cs.LG)
Cite as: arXiv:2606.23913 [cs.LG]
  (or arXiv:2606.23913v1 [cs.LG] for this version)
  https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2606.23913
arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

Submission history

From: Torben Leowald [view email]
[v1] Mon, 22 Jun 2026 20:21:49 UTC (309 KB)
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