The problem
When a small business client buys a company, someone has to read the target's key customer and supplier contracts for change of control, assignment, exclusivity, termination and liability caps. If a firm handles 2 acquisitions a month with 20 contracts each, and every contract takes 45 minutes to read and note, that's 30 hours a month.
What the AI does
Claude reads up to 20 files in one chat, with PDFs of up to 1,000 pages, so a batch of contracts can be reviewed against the same list. The solicitor uploads the contracts from the data room and asks for one table: parties, term, change of control, assignment, exclusivity, termination rights, liability caps and anything unusual, with the clause number and exact wording, and 'not found' where a contract is silent. A trainee or solicitor checks every row against the contract, and the partner writes the due diligence report. Data room documents are confidential and name individuals, so the firm uses the Team plan, which doesn't train on business data by default, and checks the confidentiality agreement allows it first.
A worked example
A two-partner commercial firm in Bristol acts on about 2 small acquisitions a month, each with about 20 key contracts in the data room. A solicitor and a trainee use Claude Team for the first pass, then check every row before the partner writes the report.
Before
45 minutes to read and note each of 40 contracts: 30 hours a month
After
About 20 minutes each, including checking the row against the contract: about 13.3 hours a month
What it's worth
About $887£667€794A$1,281C$1,254 a month in time saved, against about $40£30€36A$58C$56 to $51£38€45A$73C$71 for two Claude Team seats. 25 minutes saved on each of 40 contracts is 1,000 minutes, about 16.7 hours at an assumed $53£40€48A$77C$75 an hour.
How to set it up
- Check the confidentiality agreement and the client's instructions allow data room documents to be processed by an AI provider, and have the COLP approve Claude Team.
- Set up Claude Team for the solicitor and the trainee: $20 (about $20£15€18A$29C$28) per user a month billed annually, or $25 (about $25£19€23A$36C$36) billed monthly, minimum 2 users.
- Write a standard list of the points the firm reports on, asking for clause numbers, exact wording and 'not found' where a contract is silent.
- Upload up to 20 contracts per chat as text-searchable PDFs, and log which contracts went into which chat.
- Check every row against the contract, read any clause flagged as unusual in full and correct the table before the partner writes the report.
What goes wrong
- Claude can miss a change of control clause hidden in a definition or schedule, or mix up two similar contracts. Each row is checked against the contract before it reaches the report.
- 20 files per chat is the limit. A larger data room needs several chats, and a contract left off the log won't be in any table.
- Some confidentiality agreements restrict who may see the documents. Check before uploading, and ask the seller's solicitors if unsure.
- Free and Pro are personal plans where training is opt-out. Use Team, which needs at least 2 users.