Which is the best AI drafting tool on the market?
A few weeks ago I came across a Washington-based legaltech company called AllDrafts. I had never heard of them before, but apparently, they've been around for a while. I'm convinced until I see anything else, that AllDrafts is the best drafting tool on the market right now. My goal with The Legal Engineer was, and still is, to showcase amazing legaltech products that would otherwise fly under the radar due to a lack of funding and consequently, no marketing budget. I’d like to share some of the features that AllDrafts has to offer and what sets it apart from its competitors.
Autoformatting, hyperlinking, redacting, redlining, defining terms
AllDrafts' most unique feature is its autoformatting feature which Microsoft Word lacks. While you type, the software picks up words that are typically used by attorneys and will automatically format them. For instance, words like 'THEREFORE, AGREEMENT, and WHEREAS'. The application also picks up information like addresses of companies that you've used before and will automatically add that info into the contract for you. You can also copy and paste clauses and entire contracts from a PDF, Word doc, or Google doc, and AllDrafts will automatically number and format the pasted text for you. Having distorted text when copying and pasting into Microsoft Word can be frustrating, so I’m happy to not have to deal with this.
If you are copying and pasting from a document that has client information, you can use AllDraft’s redact tool to remove all the information in an entire document with one click. What would be great is if AllDrafts would automatically create fields in the spaces where the client's information was redacted. Instead, you have to individually create the fields yourself as you work your way through the document.
Once you have copied and pasted text, AllDrafts will also hyperlink and define terms that are typically in contracts. This can save you a lot of time unless of course, the software hyperlinks and defines a bunch of unnecessary terms and then you have to spend time removing the linked and defined terms. I haven't encountered this problem yet, but it's something to keep in mind when you are using legaltech tools.
I also tried out their redlining tool which appears to be free and it was pretty good. What I liked more than their redlining tool was their clause redraft tool that ‘cleans up’ bulky and difficult-to-read clauses for you. This tool also appeared free and separate from AllDraft’s standard package. You may want to make use of these free tools while you still can.
AI Drafting Assistant, clause bank, signature feature, and templates
I also tried out their AI drafting assistant tool to draft a contract outline for a standard contract and it did pretty well. It’s a ChatGPT-like feature which you can ask to draft or redraft anything including a table of contents. Once you have an outline you can quickly fill in the gaps using AllDraft's extensive clause database and template bank. While I was testing out the software, I appreciated the clause bank; the search engine pulls up variations of the clause you are looking for. The team at AllDrafts is continuously adding new templates and clauses so just in case you don't find what you are looking for, you can always reach out to them.
Community tab
You may be interested in their community section where people share contract templates of all kinds and you can vote on the best ones. It's something worth checking out. I was a bit skeptical about random people sharing templates and people downvoting templates out of spite, but AllDrafts reviews templates before they are made available to the public.
Bonus features like document automation
There are other features that AllDrafts offer which aren't its major features but are noteworthy. The first one is that you can use the software in your browser and you can avoid Microsoft Word add-ins altogether if you want to. You can repurpose your documents in AllDrafts as a template/form that your client can fill out and then AllDrafts generates the contract from your clients' responses. If you want to create a placeholder in your contract, highlight the text in question and right-click to create a to-do list item so that you can return to that section at a later date. You will also find the instructions and comments section useful. You can leave instructions and comments throughout the contract and you can determine what can be viewed and by whom.
These are some of the features I’ve discovered during my free trial. Let me know what you think or if you experience any problems.
Take care.