Before we opened: understanding the contract
AI helped us read the contract against our expectations, then understand the solicitor’s comments when they needed a direction from us.
Having a solicitor review a contract still leaves you with something to work through: understanding what they are telling you. During the preparations for Chloe’s Mama Kitchen, that was another place where an AI agent helped us.
The previous story was about filling in forms and returning signed documents. This one goes back to the work before signing. Getting the paperwork ready and understanding what you are agreeing to each deserve their own story.
We could use the agent to read through a contract ourselves first. It helped us look for possible concerns and places where the wording did not match what we expected or had in mind. That gave us points to look at more closely when the solicitor reviewed it.
The help continued when the solicitor came back with comments. Legal language is not always easy to follow, even when you have hired someone to advise you. Asking what a term means, then asking again about the explanation, can involve a lot of back and forth.
The agent helped us understand those terms and explanations. When the solicitor raised a question and needed us to give a direction, we could make better sense of what they were asking. It was easier to connect the discussion to what we actually wanted for the business.
I think understanding the advice you have paid for is a useful job for AI. We still had the solicitor’s review. The agent helped us take part in the conversation: first by reading the contract, and then by helping us understand the comments about it.
For us, this was another practical use during the preparations to open. A filled-in form was one kind of help. Being able to understand a contract discussion, and explain what we wanted, was another.
