As India's Law Firms Embrace AI, VakilPlus Wants to Bring It to Every Lawyer

With over 5000 lawyers signed up ahead of launch VakilPlus is building an AIpowered platform for legal drafting contract review and redlining aimed at independent advocates and law firms across IndiaArtificial intelligence is finding its way into some of Indias biggest law firms Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas has adopted tools such as Harvey and Lucio Trilegal has partnered with Lucio and Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas is among the firms working with HarveyThe market is growing too According to Grand View Research Indias legal AI market was valued at approximately 295 million in 2024 and is expected to reach 1063 million by 2030While large law firms are investing in specialised legal AI platforms many independent lawyers and smaller firms still depend on generalpurpose AI tools for drafting research and document review These tools are not always built for legal work Incorrect formatting unreliable citations and AIgenerated errors can make their outputs difficult to trust without extensive checkingThat is the gap VakilPlus wants to addressThe new AIpowered legal platform with an India first outlook is being developed to make drafting reviewing and redlining documents easier for lawyers whether they work independently in a small chamber or as part of a larger firmTaking the effort out of drafting and redliningAnyone who has worked on a commercial agreement knows that writing the first draft is only the beginningA client asks for changes The other party sends back a revised version A clause needs to be rewritten another needs to be negotiated and the document goes through yet another round of reviewLawyers can spend hours working through these changes particularly when dealing with multiple agreements at the same timeVakilPlus is being built by HouseofTech to help with this part of legal workThe platform aims to assist lawyers in preparing drafts reviewing contracts identifying clauses that need attention and suggesting alternative wording It also supports legal research allowing lawyers to look up relevant laws and judgments when neededThe emphasis is on drafting and redlining where a considerable amount of work goes into preparing documents checking changes and refining languageThe lawyer still makes the decisions VakilPlus is intended to make the process of getting to those decisions less timeconsuming5000 lawyers have already signed upEven before its official launch VakilPlus has received more than 5000 signups from lawyersThe early response is encouraging for a product entering a market where legal AI is still finding its place in everyday practiceldquoA lot of our time goes into drafting agreements reviewing clauses and making changes to documents We have started experimenting with AI tools but the problem is that most of them are not built for Indian legal practice You still have to spend considerable time checking the format verifying references and correcting errors A tool designed specifically for lawyers could make a real difference to how we workrdquo said Advocate Hemant JainFor a solo practitioner reviewing a lengthy agreement may mean working through every clause personally A small firm might have only a handful of associates handling multiple matters Corporate legal teams have their own challenges with contracts arriving regularly from vendors customers and business partnersAll of them could benefit from tools that reduce the time spent preparing and reviewing documentsVakilPlus is looking to make those tools accessible to a much wider group of legal professionals rather than limiting them to firms with large technology budgetsA different kind of support for lawyersThere is also a practical limit to what AI should do in legal workA contract is not simply a collection of clauses The wording can affect a clients rights liabilities and commercial interests A suggested change may look reasonable but still be unsuitable for a particular transactionLawyers need to make those calls themselvesVakilPlus is being developed with that in mind AI can assist with drafts suggest edits and help review documents but the final responsibility remains with the legal professionalAs more Indian law firms begin using AI the question is no longer whether the technology has a place in legal practice It is how widely that technology can be made available and whether it solves problems lawyers face every dayFor VakilPlus the starting point is a familiar one the hours spent between receiving a document and getting it ready for signature

As India's Law Firms Embrace AI, VakilPlus Wants to Bring It to Every Lawyer

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As India's Law Firms Embrace AI, VakilPlus Wants to Bring It to Every Lawyer

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