Unify Theory
AI-NATIVE SDVOSB · SYSTEMS & ADVISORY FIRM

Systems a general counsel can defend.

Model-portable AI systems for legal, defense, and compliance teams — built by an attorney who ships production AI infrastructure. Not a lawyer who talks about AI, and not an engineer who talks about law.

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THEORY · METHOD · PRACTICE — CONVERGED
SBA-CERTIFIED SDVOSB & VOSB · SAM-REGISTERED · UEI WXPZRRP43NJ3 · CAGE 20FQ7 · ELIZABETHTOWN, KENTUCKY · EST. 2026
01 — THE THESIS

The combination is rare.

Enterprise AI is moving out of pilots and into production — including in regulated environments, where the legal, ethical, and operational frameworks have to hold together from day one. The practitioners who can design for that environment — credentialed in the law, published on the law that governs the technology, and shipping production AI systems — are few.

HALF ONE

Build the systems.

Model-portable AI build-outs, custom MCP servers, and autonomous agent architectures — engineered for the reliability a regulated environment demands.

HALF TWO

Prove the decisions.

Decision provenance, pre-registration of consequential changes, and audit-ready records of what the AI did — and under whose authority.

Unify Theory is where those two halves meet — architecture, implementation, and expert guidance held in one mind.

02 — WAYS TO WORK

Three ways to work together.

Advisory

MONTHLY RETAINER · FRACTIONAL

For teams evaluating AI models or designing AI workflows. Strategy, architecture guidance, vendor selection, and the risk-and-governance framework that has to wrap the technology. One to four hours a month on a standing retainer.

Implementation

FIXED SCOPE · 4–12 WEEKS

Hands-on, model-portable AI build-outs, custom MCP servers, agent orchestration, and integration with your legal-tech, compliance, or enterprise stack. You own all artifacts and source — portable, no vendor lock-in.

Expert Engagements

RETAINER + HOURLY · LITIGATION & POLICY

Testimony, depositions, amicus contribution, and commentary on autonomous systems, AI in armed conflict, cyber operations, and the law of armed conflict.

Advisory and implementation are grounded in the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC 42001, and the EU AI Act where applicable — and defensible under scrutiny because the person who architected the system can document every consequential action it took and under whose authority, explain it under examination, and hand your counsel the record they need to defend it.

ENGAGEMENTS & PUBLISHED PRICING →
03 — THE PRINCIPAL
Durward Elton Johnson, Founder & Principal
DURWARD ELTON JOHNSON
FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL

One person — both halves of the problem.

I'm Elton Johnson. I spent twenty years as a U.S. Army Judge Advocate, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel — most recently Deputy Staff Judge Advocate of V Corps, after serving as Chief of Military Justice at III Corps, with combat tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Before those corps assignments, I taught the law of armed conflict and cyber operations at the U.S. Naval War College's Stockton Center for International Law — as military professor and associate director, and managing editor of International Law Studies — co-authoring work with Michael N. Schmitt, general editor of the Tallinn Manual.

Now I build. I architect and ship production AI systems, and I ground them in the law and policy that decide whether they hold up in front of a regulator, a court, or an adversary. The work is model-portable — I perform on the models each customer authorizes. My own commercial operations run on commercial model services today; for DoD work, and wherever a customer requires it, the systems are designed for self-hosted, US-origin open-weight models inside the customer's boundary, where I measure that performance rather than assume it. You work with me directly — not a junior team.

I build and operate production AI systems daily — that is the operating proof behind every engagement.

04 — THE RECORD

Credentialed in the law. Operating in the technology.

ACADEMIC & MILITARY
  • Retired Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army JAG Corps
    2005–2025 · 20 YEARS
  • Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, V Corps
    2023–2025
  • Chief of Military Justice, III Corps
    2021–2023
  • Military Professor & Associate Director, Stockton Center, U.S. Naval War College
    2019–2021
  • Managing Editor, International Law Studies
    2020–2021
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
DOWNLOAD CV (PDF) →
05 — CAPABILITY STATEMENT

Set up to work with federal buyers.

A Kentucky-domiciled professional-services firm, owned by a retired U.S. Army JAG officer. SBA-certified SDVOSB and VOSB — eligible for SDVOSB set-aside and sole-source contracts. A one-person firm: you work directly with the principal; larger scopes are structured as teaming arrangements, with partners named in the proposal.

CORE COMPETENCIES
  • Model-portable AI integration in regulated environments
  • Custom Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers & agent orchestration
  • Retrieval-augmented & structured-extraction pipelines on government-permissible providers
  • AI-strategy advisory & architecture review for legal, defense & compliance teams
  • Expert engagement on autonomous systems, AI in armed conflict & the law of armed conflict
INDUSTRY CODES (NAICS)
  • 541512  Computer Systems Design Services (primary)
  • 541511  Custom Computer Programming Services
  • 541611  Administrative & General Management Consulting
  • 541715  R&D in Physical, Engineering & Life Sciences
  • 541990  All Other Professional, Scientific & Technical Services
UEIWXPZRRP43NJ3
CAGE20FQ7
SAM.govACTIVE · ALL AWARDS
VetCertSDVOSB & VOSB · 2026
WHAT I DON'T YET HAVE
  • — No FedRAMP authorization
  • — No facility clearance; the principal's TS/SCI eligibility (2015–2025) is inactive, and reinstatement is a Government determination
  • — No DoD IL2/IL4/IL5 rated hosting
  • — No GSA Multiple Award Schedule
  • — No federal contract performance yet
  • — CMMC Level 1 self-assessment pending

Posted as they land. Engagement scope is matched to the security posture the firm carries today.

06 — THE WORKING REFERENCE

I operate the architecture I sell.

Every engagement draws on the same patterns I've had to build, break, and rebuild while running commerce, travel, and content operations for paying customers. When I recommend an architecture, I'm telling you what I've already learned the hard way.

BRECKENHAVEN LLC
AUTONOMOUS MULTI-BRAND OPERATIONS

A multi-brand, AI-run holding company — one operator, zero employees — running on commercial model services, a custom MCP toolchain that exposes 500+ registered tools, and scheduled autonomous agents. Commerce, content, advertising, analytics, and customer service, operated daily under pre-registered change discipline.

BRECKENWANDER, INC.
REGULATED CONSUMER COMMERCE

An AI-native travel agency, now incorporated in its own right. Dual-supplier hotel rails, Viator-certified experiences, Duffel flights, and an AI trip-planning concierge on the web and on a published phone line. Its price promise — the first price you see is the only price you pay, taxes and fees already included — is engineered rather than asserted: accuracy is checked against live supplier data before the claim ships — my own check, not a third-party audit.

THE LAW PRACTICE
AI-ASSISTED LEGAL OPERATIONS

My own Kentucky law practice, run on the same system. The document engine is grounded clause-by-clause in the governing Kentucky statutes. Clients see their drafted document before they pay. The AI phone intake is hard-gated against unauthorized practice — capture only, an attorney always in the loop.

Three operating companies, one discipline: verify before acting, pre-register consequential change, gate everything outbound.

07 — GET IN TOUCH

Tell me what you're trying to build.

If you're evaluating AI models, designing an AI-native workflow in a regulated domain, or need expert input on autonomous systems or the law of armed conflict, book a consultation or write to me. No lead forms, no intake funnel. Engagement pricing and starting points are published; scoping conversations are free, conflicts are cleared before we talk, and NDAs are available on request.

Book a consultation
elton@unifytheory.com
FEDERAL / CONTRACTING · solicitations, Sources Sought, teaming — same address
BASED IN KENTUCKY · remote & travel-friendly across U.S. engagements
SBA-CERTIFIED SDVOSB & VOSB · SAM-REGISTERED · UEI WXPZRRP43NJ3 · CAGE 20FQ7 · ELIZABETHTOWN, KENTUCKY · EST. 2026

UNIFY THEORY LLC IS A PROFESSIONAL-SERVICES FIRM, NOT A LAW FIRM. ASSESSMENTS, ADVISORY AND EXPERT WORK ARE NOT LEGAL ADVICE AND CREATE NO ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP OR PRIVILEGE; LEGAL CONCLUSIONS BELONG TO YOUR COUNSEL.

COLOPHON — THE MARK

The convergence glyph — three strokes resolving to a single rust node: theory, method, and practice, unified. Built to survive a 48-pixel tile where the ceremonial double-ring seal dissolves; the seal remains the mark of record for documents.

GLYPH · PRIMARY
Unify Theory
HORIZONTAL LOCKUP
APP TILE · 48PX-SAFE
REVERSAL · ON INK