AI Contract Review is the Future in the Legal Industry

AI contract review

AI is disrupting the inefficient contract review process. AI-powered contract review tools like BlackBoiler automate as much as 70% of human review time. AI’s value is shown in real-time — contract review and edits happen instantly. By implementing AI in your contract review process, your organization can reduce costs, improve efficiency, and save on the bottom-line.

The time-consuming and inefficient process of pre-execution contract review is a problem on a global scale. Global 2000 and Fortune 1000 companies spend $35 billion annually on high-volume legal contract review. Of which, $26 billion is spent on reviewing and marking up contracts with semantically similar language, markups that can easily be automated with AI, with an estimated $7 billion spent on redundant contract review work that’s already been done on similar contracts. Not only is this inefficient, but it is also bad business.

Clear ROI

It doesn’t need to be this way. AI-assisted contract review tools can automate as much as 70% of human review time while also seamlessly fitting into current workflows, rather than forcing changes in how your organization manages the contract review process. This helps encourage adoption and further increase the benefits of the tool.

Contract review tools use machine learning and natural language processing to recognize semantic patterns in language and suggest edits based on your company’s playbook and standards. Unlike other tools that simply flag areas that are not consistent with the legal department’s standards, contract review tools immediately markup new inbound contracts, eliminating hours of attorney time. 

Global 1000 corporation using BlackBoiler’s AI-assisted contract review tool reduced its review time from 45 minutes to 14 minutes within just six months. This resulted in a 68.9% time-saving, which translates to significant savings to the bottom-line. 

Not only does it translate to significant savings to the bottom-line, but it also improves the quality of output dramatically because it ensures consistency in contract language and reduces risk by standardizing how a company reviews and marks up their contracts, no matter who and where it is being negotiated. On top of that, the tool grows smarter and increases efficiency with every use.

AI and the future of contract review

AI is the future of contract review

AI has many benefits, but AI will not replace humans. The legal department will still need strong gatekeepers to monitor the tools, ensure that the system learns from high-quality work, and is up to date on the organization’s priorities and changes in legal best practices.

There are many new AI-powered tools out there, but how do you choose which one is the best for your business? You must ask three questions:

1. How can your tool allow legal departments to focus on higher-value work?

When attorneys are no longer spending hours scrutinizing every contract clause and engaging in numerous rounds of emails with the opposite party, they are free to concentrate on higher-value tasks.

2. How does this tool impact the strategy of contract negotiation and review?

Attorneys can spend more time working with business people on the substance of the contract and focus more time on negotiations rather than the nuts and bolts of the contract review.

3. What are the business results for greater efficiency and cost savings?

When the legal contract review process is more efficient, the general counsel is no longer viewed as the bottleneck of the contract negotiation process.

Most people in the legal industry already recognize that AI is here. According to ILTA’s December Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning Survey, almost two-thirds of respondents said AI-powered software is already creating fundamental change in the legal industry or will do so in the next 1 to 3 years.

According to survey respondents, legal contract review work is ripe for this type of technology and contract analysis is the area of legal business uses where AI-powered tools will obtain acceptable maturity first. This is followed by eDiscovery and investigation analysis and legal research.

AI-assisted contract review can offer proven advantages to you, your team, and your clients. And if you aren’t already exploring this technology, your competitors are.

BLACKBOILER CONTRACT REVIEW SOFTWARE