Legal Chatbots Explained: Functions and Benefits

Digitalisation is fundamentally changing the world of work, and the legal sector is no exception. Legal Tech and AI solutions are becoming increasingly popular and are being used more and more in companies to automate repetitive tasks and make processes more efficient. AI in contract management is no longer an abstract subject. With the successful breakthrough of tools such as ChatGPT or Gemini, the use of AI-powered copilots is also becoming increasingly commonplace in the legal sector. But what specific tasks can legal chatbots take on in contract management? And what added value do they offer not only to legal departments, but also to other parts of the company, especially employees without legal experience?

What are Legal Chatbots?

Legal chatbots are virtual assistants based on artificial intelligence (AI) that efficiently support legal work. Using modern technologies such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning, they can analyse complex documents, answer legal questions, and provide concrete recommendations for action—and do all of this in a very short time. This replaces lengthy, manual processes with ever more automated, intelligent processing. These innovative tools greatly relieve legal departments and make legal knowledge accessible to employees without a legal background.

The Benefits of Legal Chatbots for Companies

Legal chatbots offer a variety of ways to make legal processes more efficient, cost-effective and accessible. The main advantages include:

Time Savings

Legal chatbots take over time-consuming routine tasks, such as answering standard legal questions, analysing contract contents with clear presentation, or drafting suitable clauses. This saves companies valuable time that employees can use for strategically important projects, while legal departments are noticeably relieved.

Cost Efficiency

The AI-based support reduces dependence on costly external legal advice. Especially for standardised tasks, companies can achieve significant cost savings through legal chatbots. However, for complex, individual issues, the expertise of legal professionals remains indispensable.

Accessibility

Legal chatbots make legal knowledge accessible to all employees, including those without any legal background. They enable quick and straightforward answers to legal questions, thus promoting both independence and efficiency for staff.

Error Reduction

By accurately analysing documents and identifying potential weaknesses, legal chatbots minimise the risk of errors. Particularly in standardised processes, they impress with precision and reliability whilst typical human oversights are eliminated.

The Themis Copilot: A Pioneer in Contract Management

One of the most advanced innovations in the field of Legal AI is the Themis Copilot from PACTA. This tool has been developed to support you in your daily work with (contract) documents.

The core functions include:

Enquiries regarding metadata and contents of entire contract files: Contract documents can be summarised in clear, easily understandable language. This way, staff can receive a concise overview of key content and obligations without having to wade through pages of legal text.
New clauses and legal texts at the touch of a button: With Themis Copilot, you can easily and quickly generate new clauses and legal texts automatically—with just one click. The AI draws on existing templates and legal standards to deliver precise and tailor-made results. This saves valuable time and spares you laborious manual drafting.
Summaries of court decisions: Themis helps you grasp the key points of a judgement at a glance.
Explanations of laws and clauses in your documents: Themis provides clear explanations of laws and clauses in your documents, making it easier to understand legal content and apply it directly.
Summaries and calculation of costs in your contracts: Themis gives you, in one click, a clear, tabular overview of all costs and calculations within your contracts.
Semantic comparison of entire contract files: Themis can read multiple documents simultaneously to create a semantic comparison. By reading several documents at once, you can ask Themis questions about entire contract files or projects.

How is PACTA’s legal AI trained?

AI does not train itself automatically, especially not in the highly sensitive legal field. For PACTA’s legal AI to work reliably and in a practical manner, it is continuously developed in close collaboration with our clients. The foundation for this is real contracts which—of course only with express consent—are incorporated into the training process. In this way, an AI emerges that truly understands legal language and delivers real value in everyday use.

Challenges and Limitations of Legal Chatbots

Despite the numerous benefits, companies should also be aware of the limitations of legal chatbots:

No individual legal advice: Legal chatbots can provide basic information and guidance, but they are not a substitute for personal legal advice from qualified professionals.
Data currency: The quality of the results depends on the up-to-dateness of the underlying data. Regular updates are necessary to take account of legal developments such as new laws or judgments.
Responsibility and liability: The use of legal chatbots does not relieve companies from the responsibility of making legally sound decisions. The AI offers helpful support but does not replace binding legal advice.

Best Practice: GVG Glasfaser GmbH Shows How a Legal Chatbot Delivers Real Added Value in Daily Business

How can contract analyses be made faster and more efficient? GVG Glasfaser GmbH has found a clear answer to this. In the legal department, the Themis Copilot has already become an integral part of everyday work and takes on key tasks there.

Especially with extensive contract files, Themis Copilot filters out the relevant information in seconds and prepares it for further processing. Whether summaries or detailed clause evaluations, the results are available immediately and can be passed directly on to the relevant departments.

For the company, this represents a real productivity boost. The Head of Legal at GVG Glasfaser emphasises: “The Themis Copilot is a real asset for us. Summarising contracts or analysing individual contracts works reliably. It is particularly helpful that we can create non-legal summaries for other departments without having to process each contract manually.”

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Conclusion: Legal Chatbots are Transforming Legal Work

Legal chatbots are revolutionising contract management by solving legal issues and making them accessible to all employees. They save time, increase efficiency, and minimise errors. As such, they are a valuable aid in the digital age. With tools like Themis Copilot, it becomes clear that the future of contract management lies in the collaboration between AI and human expertise. Companies adopting these technologies benefit from an optimised way of working that prepares them for the challenges of the future.

See Themis in action. Book a free demo now.