---
title: "Precedent metadata and version-control standard (for people and AI retrieval)"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/knowledge-management/precedent-metadata-standard"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "km-precedent-metadata-standard"
area_id: "KM"
kind: "other"
ai_level: "green"
version: 1
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-17"
---

# Precedent metadata and version-control standard (for people and AI retrieval)

> A field-by-field metadata standard for firm precedents, covering status, jurisdiction, authorities and their currency, licence and provenance, confidentiality, AI-assisted flags, approver and review dates, with rules…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/knowledge-management/precedent-metadata-standard  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-17

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

A field-by-field metadata standard for firm precedents, covering status, jurisdiction, authorities and their currency, licence and provenance, confidentiality, AI-assisted flags, approver and review dates, with rules that AI retrieval tools must follow.

## Key facts

- Kind: Other. A precedent that fits none of the other kinds.
- Practice area: [Knowledge Management](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/knowledge-management.md)
- Jurisdictions: Australia
- AI level: Green. AI can do most of the drafting. A lawyer still reviews the result.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-17
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-17 against the 4 authorities it cites, for Australia.

## When to use it

Use when setting up or cleaning a precedent bank, migrating it to a new system, or connecting it to AI search or agents. Pair it with the review and approval procedure, which decides when the fields change.

## How AI may be used

AI may tag and classify legacy precedents against this standard, suggest values and find gaps. People confirm status, approver, licence and confidentiality fields, which control what AI tools may retrieve.

**AI may:**

- Suggest practice area, document type, jurisdiction and keywords for legacy precedents, for the knowledge editor to confirm.
- Extract cited authorities into the authorities field and flag citations that look outdated.
- Run validation checks and list records with missing or invalid fields.

**AI must not:**

- Must not set status to "approved", or fill the approver, licence or confidentiality fields, without human confirmation.
- Must not retrieve records whose status is not "approved" or whose restrictions exclude AI use.
- Must not infer that a document is free of client information because the field is blank.

**The lawyer checks:**

- Licence and provenance fields are correct for every third-party-derived precedent.
- Confidentiality and client-derived fields are reviewed before a precedent is exposed to AI retrieval.
- Review-by dates reflect how fast the area changes.

## Authorities

- [Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2015 r 9 (confidentiality)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2015-0244)
- [Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2015 r 4.1.3 (competence and diligence)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2015-0244)
- [Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) Sch 1 APP 11 (security, and destruction or de-identification)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C2004A03712/latest/text)
- [Copyright Act 1968 (Cth) ss 31 and 35 (exclusive rights; ownership, including works made by employees)](https://www.legislation.gov.au/C1968A00063/latest/text)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/knowledge-management/precedent-metadata-standard and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*