For Readers in Asia: For Contract Drafting, AI Is No Substitute for Knowledge (Plus News of Presentations in Asia)

One of my corporate partners, Thomson Reuters Asia, is contemplating something old-fashioned—having me do Drafting Clearer Contracts presentations in Hong Kong, Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, and Mumbai (details below). Yes—really. I offer Drafting Clearer Contracts training online, but in-person presentations can be more fun.

But my contact at TR tells me that some potential participants have suggested there’s no point. After all, we now have generative AI!

Well, whether that makes sense depends on what your goals are. If you want to quickly produce something that looks plausible as an example of mainstream drafting, then whatever brand of AI you’re using might be just the thing.

But …

• The problem with creating something derived from mainstream contract drafting is that mainstream contract drafting is not good. I’ve built a fun career out of explaining, in detail, the many ways that mainstream contract drafting is dysfunctional. That includes contracts drafted by big law firms! By global companies! If you want to create contracts that are clear, concise, and relevant, replicating mainstream contract drafting isn’t the way to go.

• Let’s assume that somehow your AI produces something that is in fact clear, concise, and relevant. Someone important (boss, client, significant other) asks you to explain certain provisions or the implications of how the contract says what it says. Unless you’ve studied deal mechanics and contract language, there’s a good chance you’ll look blank and have to find an excuse to exit quickly. “Oh dear, I have an important meeting starting in two minutes!”

• If you’re using AI, your immediate connection is with the AI, not what’s in the contract. It’s likely that you’ll “prompt” the AI with generalities that don’t take into account the many ways you can customize a contract. You might even leave it to the AI to collect whatever deal terms it thinks would suit a party in your client’s position. You risk losing in due course whatever familiarity you had with the details of deal terms, so you’re limited to your prompts. This is a recognized phenomenon—many technologies rob us of our cognitive faculties. I’m OK with that when it comes to, say, using GPS, because my car’s navigation system tells me exactly what I need to know. Contract drafting is different—instead of a single destination, there’s a world of possibilities.

If AI isn’t the solution, what should you do instead? A good first step would be to start becoming an informed consumer of contract language. In other words, start becoming aware of the good and not-so-good ways to say whatever you want to say in a contract, with the aim of being clear and and concise. Being an informed consumer of contract language gives you that most precious of commodities—control. As I explain in this 2024 blog post, an essential component of becoming an informed consumer of contract language is my book A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting. If you attend one of my Asia presentations, you would receive a copy of my book—all 670 pages—at no additional charge.

I’m a US-trained lawyer, but my guidelines are intended for anyone drafting contracts in English, wherever they’re located. And I’m acutely aware of the challenges facing those who have learned English as an additional language.

Some key information is below; if you have any questions, please contact Julian Chiew of Thomson Reuters Asia at Julian.Chiew@thomsonreuters.com.

By the way, the photo of me was taken at my final pre-pandemic seminar for Thomson Reuters, in Seoul. I wrote about that here.