How solicitors are using AI for contract review

TL;DR: The Law Society has published a practical guide to how solicitors are using AI tools for contract management, from summarising individual documents to processing hundreds of contracts during due diligence. The piece, written by Mills & Reeve’s head of legal AI, cuts through vendor hype with grounded advice on what works and what to avoid.

Iain Murdoch, head of legal AI at Mills & Reeve, outlines a spectrum of AI tools for different contract tasks. For small document sets, generative AI can summarise each agreement before a full read. For hundreds or thousands of contracts, purpose-built AI tools handle large-scale extraction: flagging jurisdictional variations, identifying unusual terms, or grouping contract types for delegation to specialists.

The practical shift

The economics are changing. Previously, cost constraints forced legal teams to review only a sample of contracts on large transactions, perhaps 10% of employment agreements or commercial leases. AI tools acting as assistants now allow review of entire document sets while staying within client price expectations.

Beyond transaction work, AI can automate internal processes like contract expiry reminders that previously required manual calendar entries.

Where firms go wrong

Murdoch warns against assuming generative AI fits every use case. GenAI is designed to create new text, which makes it prone to hallucination when the task requires strict data extraction. For those tasks, machine learning tools built specifically for structured extraction are more reliable.

Using public GenAI chatbots rather than enterprise-level tools approved by the firm’s risk processes is another common mistake. Data protection is weaker without proper organisational controls.

Looking forward

The legal technology market is moving fast, with private equity-backed providers racing to capture market share. Agentic AI systems that break down complex instructions and deploy multiple AI tools autonomously are the next frontier. Murdoch’s advice for firms considering AI adoption: start with your existing workflows, identify the gaps, and resist the urge to replace what already works. “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater,” he says.