AI: the good, the glitchy, and the game-changing
This wasn’t a case of poor management. It reflected the scale and complexity many legal teams face. And it’s exactly where AI can make a meaningful impact.
A practical application of legal AI
Using tools like ContractPod and V7Go, we trained AI to extract key contractual data: termination rights, renewal terms, liability caps. It wasn’t instant. It took rounds of refinement, legal input, and quality assurance. But eventually, we reached 97% precision.
That level of accuracy didn’t replace lawyers, it empowered them. Junior team members could QA outputs efficiently, freeing up senior lawyers to focus on strategic analysis and decision-making. The result was a dual-purpose report that served as both a risk register and a supplier tracker. The business gained clarity, control, and a foundation for smarter decisions - delivered faster and at a fraction of the cost.
What worked - and what didn’t
The benefits were clear:
Speed: AI processed hundreds of contracts in days, not months.
Scale: It handled volume that would have overwhelmed a traditional team.
Savings: The cost of delivery dropped significantly without compromising quality.
But there were limitations too. AI struggled with nuance. It couldn’t interpret context, spot subtle inconsistencies, or make judgment calls. That’s where legal expertise remained essential. Lawyers weren’t removed from the process, they were repositioned to where they added the most value.
Finding the balance
The lesson? AI is a tool, not a replacement. It’s most effective when paired with legal oversight: doing the heavy lifting so lawyers can focus on the thinking. When used well, it shifts legal teams from reactive to proactive, from overwhelmed to strategic.
In this case, AI didn’t just help us catch up - it helped us leap ahead. Because while technology can read a clause, only a lawyer can read between the lines.
Final thoughts
Legal AI isn’t about replacing people. It’s about reimagining how legal work gets done. By combining the precision of machines with the judgment of lawyers, we create a model that’s faster, smarter, and more sustainable.
The future of legal delivery isn’t binary, it’s blended. And when we get that balance right, we don’t just improve efficiency. We unlock new ways to deliver value.