A Tech-Only Solution for Contract Review, Or Not: BlackBoiler and LegalSifter

I used to keep track of technology related to the contracts process, but now I do so only sporadically—there’s way too much for the casual observer to keep up with.

That’s even the case regarding a subset of that technology—products that aim to facilitate review of contracts. That’s of interest to me, as I’m chief content officer of LegalSifter, one of the companies in that business. At times it has seemed as if every couple of weeks I would hear of a new entrant in the field. I would pass the details on to Kevin Miller, our chief executive officer, but I wasn’t about to look more closely—I’m no technologist, and I had my hands full as it was.

But last December I listened to this LawNext interview of Dan Broderick, founder of BlackBoiler. At the same time, BlackBoiler announced it had been issued two additional patents for its artificial-intelligence-assisted contract-review software. (See this LawSites article.) And just a few weeks before, BlackBoiler had raised $3.2 million from a group of investors that included DocuSign. (See this Artificial Lawyer article.) DocuSign, the e-signature company, currently has a market capitalization of roughly $45 billion. And last fall it too entered the market for AI-powered contract review with DocuSign Analyzer. (See this Artificial Lawyer article.)

That might have had me quaking in my boots, but it didn’t.

This post is on LegalSifter’s blog. To read the rest of it, go here.

About the author

Ken Adams is the leading authority on how to say clearly whatever you want to say in a contract. He’s author of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, and he offers online and in-person training around the world. He’s also chief content officer of LegalSifter, Inc., a company that combines artificial intelligence and expertise to assist with review of contracts.

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