Lawrence Solum

Also known as Lawrence B. Solum, Lawrence Byard Solum

Lawrence Solum is a legal theorist whose 1992 article “Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligences” was the first major piece of legal scholarship on the moral and legal status of artificial intelligence. Trained in philosophy at UCLA and in law at Harvard, he clerked on the Ninth Circuit and then taught at Loyola Law School, the University of San Diego, the University of Illinois, Georgetown and the University of Virginia. His 2014 essay “Artificial Meaning” imagined an AI that creates legal rules for a hyper-complex transportation system, and he has edited the Legal Theory Blog since 2002. Since 2026, he is Professor of Law, Dean's Research Chair and Director of the Center on the Structural Constitution at Texas A&M University School of Law.

Now at: Texas A&M University School of Law
Badges: Wayfarer

Timeline

1984–1985

Harvard Law and a clerkship

Raised in Monterey Park, California, he debates for the University of Southern California before transferring to UCLA, where he graduates with highest departmental honors in philosophy. He earns a J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he edits the Harvard Law Review, and works at Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York. He clerks for Judge William A. Norris of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1984 to 1985.
1985–2005

Teaching at Loyola and San Diego

He begins his teaching career at Loyola Law School, Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles in 1985 and serves as its associate dean for academic affairs. In 2002, he moves to the University of San Diego School of Law and starts editing the Legal Theory Blog, which tracks new legal scholarship. Legal Affairs magazine names him in 2004 among its nominees for the twenty most influential legal thinkers in America.
1992

Legal personhood for artificial intelligences

In 1992, he publishes “Legal Personhood for Artificial Intelligences” in the North Carolina Law Review, the first major piece of legal scholarship on the moral and legal status of artificial intelligence. Its thought experiments ask whether an AI could act as an independent trustee and whether it could claim rights under the Constitution.
2005–2011

Law and philosophy at Illinois

He moves to the University of Illinois College of Law in 2005 as the John A. Cribbet Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy. He also serves as associate dean for faculty and research and co-directs the Program in Law and Philosophy.
2011–2020

Carmack Waterhouse Professor at Georgetown

He joins Georgetown University Law Center in 2011 as the Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Law and becomes a senior scholar at its Center for the Constitution. In March 2017, he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the hearings on Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the Supreme Court, presenting the case for originalism. His paper “Artificially Intelligent Law” appears in the BioLaw Journal in 2019.
2014

An essay on artificial meaning

In March 2014, he speaks at the University of Michigan Law School at a Federalist Society event titled “Zombies Versus Robots: Artificial Intelligence and Personhood.” His essay “Artificial Meaning” appears in the Washington Law Review in 2014 and studies meanings produced by entities other than individual natural persons. Its thought experiment, The Chinese Intersection, imagines an AI that creates legal rules for a hyper-complex conflux of transportation systems.
2020–2026

Distinguished professor at Virginia

He joins the University of Virginia School of Law faculty in 2020 as the William L. Matheson and Robert M. Morgenthau Distinguished Professor of Law and Douglas D. Drysdale Research Professor of Law. He teaches civil procedure and constitutional law there, along with seminars in constitutional theory and the philosophy of law.
Since 2026

Director at Texas A&M Law

In 2026, he moves from Virginia to Texas A&M University School of Law in Fort Worth, Texas. He is Professor of Law, Dean's Research Chair and Director of the Center on the Structural Constitution, and his areas of expertise include law and artificial intelligence.

Career

Since 2026Texas A&M UniversityProfessor of Law; Dean's Research Chair
Since 2026Texas A&M University School of LawDirector
2011–2020Georgetown UniversityCarmack Waterhouse Professor of Law
2011–2020Georgetown University Law CenterSenior Scholar
2005–2011University of Illinois Urbana-ChampaignJohn A. Cribbet Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy
2002–2005University of San Diego
1985–2002Loyola Marymount UniversityAssociate Dean for Academic Affairs
1984–1985United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitLaw clerk