Pittsburgh-based legal AI company, LegalSifter, has brought aboard US contracting guru, Ken Adams, as an Advisor who will engage with clients and also help to develop some of the legal informational content that the system provides lawyers upon automated review of a contract.
The company, which helps lawyers review and assess contracts with NLP and machine learning technology, said that Adams has established ‘an international reputation as the leading expert on contract language’.
He is the author of the bestselling A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, published by the American Bar Association. Adams consults with companies looking to improve their contract templates, which clearly plays into the tech offering that LegalSifter provides.
LegalSifter, the product, reviews contracts in a minute or two using artificial intelligence and
the advice of a client’s lawyers and leaders. Clients start by uploading draft contracts that
they are negotiating, particularly those written on other party’s paper.
Sifters – software trained to read text that learns over time – review the draft contract and identify important legal and business concepts that demand attention or are missing entirely. The Sifters trigger Help Text, in-context advice tailored to the client’s business and negotiation position.
Adams will review and write the default Help Text that clients receive when they first subscribe to LegalSifter. He will help determine what issues LegalSifter should look for, and how. He will talk with existing and potential clients on an ongoing basis to inform the LegalSifter product design and roadmap.
Adams said in a statement: ‘Now it’s time to build, by applying those guidelines to the task of using technology to streamline the contracts process. Review of the other side’s drafts has been a notoriously time-consuming part of that process, so I’m delighted to be helping LegalSifter’s talented and determined team.’
Kevin Miller, LegalSifter’s CEO, added: ‘Our technology is essential to what we do, but it’s only part of the story. Our technology allows us to apply contract expertise where it’s most relevant. Having Ken as a hands-on member of our team will send a strong signal to our clients that the help they receive from LegalSifter is state-of-the-art. Ken has demonstrated an unflagging commitment to a more effective contracts process. We’re stronger for having Ken as part of LegalSifter.’
In December last year UK law firm TLT partnered with the AI company and also took an equity stake in it.