Show HN: AI Contract Reviewer – Flags Risks and Suggests Fixes in Minutes
1 comments
This looks like a great start. In my experience with contract review, the key is bridging AI with human validation for decision support. AI is excellent at flagging the 'known unknowns' like missing indemnity caps or unilateral termination, but having that human-in-the-loop for the final call is where the real value lies for procurement teams. Looking forward to seeing how this evolves!
I'm building an AI tool that helps non-lawyers and busy procurement/legal teams quickly review vendor/client contracts, NDAs, employment agreements, etc. — without uploading sensitive data to the cloud (offline/local-first option) or replacing lawyers.
Background: As someone who's wasted days manually hunting for risky clauses, vague terms, hidden overrides in amendments, or unfair liability language in vendor deals, I decided to prototype this after seeing how much time/money gets burned on basic reviews.
What it does right now (early MVP/beta): - Upload PDF/Word/plain text contract - Scans for common risks: indemnity caps missing, auto-renewals, one-sided termination, IP ownership traps, liability exceeding fees, non-compete overreach, etc. - Flags issues with plain-English explanations + confidence score - Suggests safer alternative clauses (based on standard templates/best practices) - Basic redlining/highlighting output (exportable) - Offline mode using local models (no data leaves your machine)
Tech stack (simple & transparent): - Frontend: React + Tailwind - Backend: Python + fine-tuned open models (e.g., Llama-3 or similar legal-tuned variants) + some rule-based checks for accuracy - No cloud LLM calls in core flow (privacy focus); optional Grok/Claude integration for deeper suggestions - Processes docs locally via Ollama or similar
Current status: - Tested on ~50 real-ish contracts (NDAs, SaaS agreements, freelance templates) - Average time: 2-5 minutes vs. hours/days manual - ~75-85% of obvious risks caught (still misses nuanced stuff — not lawyer-grade yet) - Free beta, no signup required (just drag & drop on the demo page)
I'm looking for brutal feedback, especially from: - In-house counsel/procurement folks: What clauses cause you the most pain/headaches? - Developers/freelancers/small biz owners: Would you trust this for quick scans before signing vendor deals? - Anyone who's used Spellbook/LegalFly/Ironclad: How does this compare? What gaps do you see? - Trust/accuracy concerns: Hallucinations, false positives, liability disclaimers?
Happy to share more on training data approach, offline setup, or why I focused on negotiation basics vs. full lifecycle.
Thanks for any thoughts — this is day-early, so roast away!