Ten questions to ask before you buy legal AI
Ten questions to ask before you buy legal AI will save your firm from committing to a tool that looked impressive in a vendor demo but underdelivers once your lawyers try to use it under time pressure on a real transaction.
Questions about workflow and integration
Does the tool work inside Microsoft Word, or does it require a separate portal? If lawyers need to switch applications, adoption will be patchy at best. Ask for a live demonstration in an actual Word document, not a pre-recorded walkthrough. Ask whether tracked changes survive the process. Ask what happens when a lawyer is working offline or under a document management system that locks files during editing.
These are dull questions. They are also the ones that determine whether your team uses the tool six months after the subscription starts.
Questions about data and learning
Where does the tool draw its drafting suggestions from? Is it trained on generic public legal text, or on your firm's own precedents? Does it retain anything between sessions, or does each interaction start from zero? If you teach it something about your preferred clause position today, does it remember that tomorrow?
Ask specifically what happens to firm-specific knowledge over time. The answer will tell you whether the tool compounds in value or merely rents you capability that never accumulates.
Questions about ownership and security
Who owns the knowledge captured during your firm's use of the platform? Does the vendor use your data to train models that benefit other clients? Where is client data processed and stored? Is the vendor willing to sign a data processor agreement that meets your obligations under GDPR?
A vendor who cannot answer these questions clearly is either not thinking about them or not willing to tell you. Neither is a good sign for a firm with professional confidentiality obligations.
Questions about cost and commitment
What is the all-in per-user cost? Are there minimum seat requirements, implementation fees or support tiers that add to the headline number? What is the minimum contract term, and what are the exit terms? How much configuration or onboarding time does the vendor expect before your team sees useful output?
Scriptum publishes its pricing, starting at £79 per user per month on the Starter plan, with no hidden costs and a low-lift rollout designed for firms that do not have a dedicated technology function. If you want to put those answers to the test, book a demo and we will answer every question on this list live.