We deploy Kira, the market-leading, machine learning AI technology for contract review, M&A due diligence, and other applications. Our attorneys use Kira to complete contract reviews faster for our clients while mitigating the risk of error. Kira users report time savings of 20 – 40 percent for initial implementation and 90+ percent on subsequent uses, because the system gains strength and accuracy as the machine learning algorithms grow. We also employ Drafting Assistant, an AI tool that streamlines the legal document creation process for both transactional and litigation documents. Drafting Assistant allows our lawyers to draft documents faster and with greater accuracy through the use of model documents and automated templates. The software fully integrates with another legal AI tool we employ, Westlaw Edge, which brings together a suite of legal research tools. The integration of these two tools makes it easier and more efficient to complete common drafting tasks such as inserting citations, locating authority, creating a table of authorities, and proofreading.

How are we using AI?

Improve Contract Management

Companies lose an average of 5 – 12 percent of contract value due to lapses in administration of contract obligations, (i.e., missed renewal dates on auto-renewing contracts, failure to ask for credits when they are due, or failure to send invoices when money is owed). Using AI, Baker Donelson helps clients understand what is in the contracts and minimize missed obligations. Our platform can sort and organize high-volume document sets for inclusion in contract management systems where appropriate. It understands the key diligence issues, locates them within the documents, stacks them up so that they can be easily reviewed by our lawyers, and automatically populates a diligence spreadsheet, enabling our attorneys to focus their time on evaluating key issues.

Our AI tools provide:

• Improved templates and playbooks to identify standard items and outliers.
• Improved tracking and management of required contract obligations, (e.g., notice, confidentiality, exclusivity, indemnification, and insurance).
• Enhanced transparency of the contract analysis process.
• Identification of missed opportunities to reclaim revenue by tracking renewal dates, credits due, and more.
• More consistent application of client policies and controls relating to contracts and invoices across the business.

Enhance and Expedite M&A Due Diligence

Expenses associated with due diligence make up a significant portion of M&A activity costs. Similar to its contract applications, Baker Donelson uses AI to identify provisions that are critical in M&A and to catalog transactional due diligence issues to help ensure compliance with post-merger integration or separation contractual obligations.

Among the private deal provisions that can be identified are provisions for share purchase agreements, asset purchase agreements, and merger agreements; the tool can also help build clause banks or deal points studies, or maintain a database with deal details.

Baker Donelson's AI tools ensure that newly-formed organizations uphold commitments to new customers, and that valuable client resources are not spent servicing obligations that are no longer relevant.

Mitigate Risks and Ensure Compliance

Companies face significant exposure if they don't comply with global requirements ranging from anti-bribery to privacy policies and data security. Using our AI tool's built-in provision models that can identify FCPA, export control, or other regulatory issue clauses across large volumes of contracts, we are able to identify areas of potential noncompliance quickly, and additional compliance provision models can be tailored to specific clients.

Employ More Effective Lease Abstraction for Real Estate Projects

Through our AI platforms, Baker Donelson can prepare accurate and comprehensive lease summaries more quickly and provide lenders and purchasers with an overview of lease terms for a single building or an entire portfolio, to support advisory and transactional real estate matters. AI also helps analysts and lawyers complete due diligence more quickly and accurately.

Increase Consistency Across Financial Services Deals

Consistency is key in financial services, and variations from one deal to the next need to be considered carefully. Our AI tools easily identify aberrations from the norm, even on third-party paper. For example, it allows us to maintain a library of prior clause precedents for credit agreements and other financial instruments. Running every new deal document through our AI tool helps identify clauses to check against the prior deal database, ensuring consistency and accuracy of advice across the team and the project.

Expedite and Improve the Legal Document Creation Process

We employ Drafting Assistant, an AI tool that streamlines the legal document creation process for both transactional and litigation documents. Drafting Assistant allows our lawyers to draft documents faster and with greater accuracy through the use of model documents and automated templates. The software fully integrates with another legal AI tool we employ, Westlaw Edge, which brings together a suite of legal research tools. The integration of these two tools makes it easier and more efficient to complete common drafting tasks such as inserting citations, locating authority, creating a table of authorities, and proofreading.

Example Implementations

Client Need: To globally manage contracts to a specified standard on a world-wide platform without the legal department becoming a bottleneck.

Our Solution: We created an online workflow system that templates the critical questions of the contract into a decision tree format. Users around the globe can log in 24/7 and answer questions. The system then auto-generates the contract with the correct provisions based upon the answers. Electronic signatures can be included to help with contract execution. Executed contracts are automatically saved and can be accessed centrally by the client.

Client Need: To effectively and efficiently manage a large internal investigation involving two million documents for 20 employees on a tight timeframe and budget.

Our Solution: Working collaboratively with the client's IT department, we directed the collection of emails for a small group of lead custodians, and used that dataset to develop relevant filtering terms in close consultation with the client's legal team. The universe was narrowed to around 30,000 reviewable documents, which were reviewed in less than ten days by a Contract Counsel Review Team. The team identified key documents for the legal team to analyze, which enabled them to complete the investigation on time and under budget.