What are Business Contract AI Mistakes?
A business contract is an agreement between parties that explains the terms of a business deal. Since it specifies duties and rights parties have under the conditions of the deal, it needs to be drafted carefully.
If you’re relying on an AI tool to help you draft a business contract, there are some common things to be aware of.
Read the rest of this article to explore the most common business contract AI mistakes, how to avoid them when drafting your agreements, and how a qualified lawyer can help you create business contracts that are clear and legally sound.
What are Common Business Contract AI Mistakes?
Some of the most commonly-seen mistakes that AI tools make when drafting business contracts include the following:
- Missing business-related information. While an AI tool might provide terms and clauses required for the specific business contract you’re drafting, it won’t tailor these to your business deal. It lacks bigger picture thinking, such as in terms of specific risks your business could be exposed to.
- Lack of additional terms. An AI tool might state specific deliverables and project milestones required under the agreement but not consider additional details that are also important, such as conditions for nonpayment or post-termination duties. These can result in disputes.
- Unrealistic liability clauses. It’s common for AI to provide generalized or very broad information regarding liability. This can put parties at risk of disputes or taking on unnecessary risk.
- Lack of customer data protection. Many business contracts will involve accessing and handling customer data. Without specific and detailed clauses in the agreement, you can leave sensitive information exposed.
- Incorrect use of material breach. An AI tool might mention material breaches in the drafted document without providing clarity about what constitutes a material breach. This ambiguity, although seemingly minor, can result in misunderstandings or disputes.
- Insufficient workflow information. AI could totally neglect to include information about real-world business operations, such as how approval processes will work or what reporting obligations exist. This creates a less practical document that creates confusion between parties.
- Lack of leverage insight. Unlike a human attorney, an AI tool can’t expertly guide you on what leverage you have during contract negotiations to achieve more favorable terms.
How Can You Avoid Making Business Contract AI Mistakes?
When drafting a business contract with the use of AI tools, there are ways in which you can minimize the risk of mistakes. Here are tips on how to use them safely and responsibly.
Provide the Business Contract Terms
Instead of allowing an AI tool to draft an entire business contract, you need to know what terms you wish to include in the contract so that you can guide it to provide you with specific, detailed information. This will also prevent it from inventing information that isn’t relevant or useful.
Request Assumptions
A trick you can use when prompting AI to draft your business contract is to ask it to provide a list of any assumptions it could be making from the start of the process. This will prevent it from making mistakes in the document, such as using the incorrect legal jurisdiction for your contract that can make it invalid.
Edit the First Draft
It’s up to you to fact-check everything the AI tool has included in the business contract. During your review, you can also prompt the AI tool to highlight all subjective terms in the copy, such as “reasonable” and “satisfactory,” so that you can make them more specific to your requirements.
How Can a Lawyer Help You Avoid Business Contract AI Mistakes?
You should hire a lawyer to review your AI-generated business contract to gain confidence that it’s clear, specific, and protects your commercial interests. Here’s how they will help you during the review process:
- They’ll consider your business model and risk profile to ensure you’re not responsible for unnecessary risks.
- They’ll consider worst-case scenarios that AI can’t, helping to protect your interests.
- They’ll revise ambiguous, confusing language in the business contract that could be open to misinterpretation, increasing your risk of disputes.
- They’ll clear up legal jargon that AI tools might resort to using to make the text appear polished. This makes the contract terms easy for all parties to understand.
- They’ll help you negotiate with the other party should this be required to achieve more favorable terms.
Where to Find a Lawyer for Business Contract Drafting and Review
If you need to hire a lawyer to help you review an AI-generated business contract or draft one for you from scratch, you don’t have to take lots of time out of your schedule to find one. On online legal platforms, you can access a network of qualified lawyers who are experienced to help you.
ContractsCounsel is one of the largest online legal marketplaces that gives you access to a network of vetted lawyers. All lawyers on the platform have years of experience in contract drafting and review.
Here are the steps to follow if you want to request one of ContractsCounsel’s lawyers to draft or review your business contract so that it’s legally valid and clear:
- Go to the ContractsCounsel marketplace.
- Post your project for free. Include a few details to help you find the most suitable lawyer.
- Receive multiple bids from lawyers directly on the platform who have the experience to help you.
- Review the lawyers’ profiles. Take some time to go through the platform’s lawyer data, such as their location, client ratings for previous projects, expertise, and credentials.
- Connect with a lawyer you think is best suited to your requirements and hire them for a flat fee.
