The problem
Much commercial work is the same few documents for different clients: NDAs, consultancy and service agreements, website terms and shareholder agreements. If a firm prepares 12 such documents a month and adapting a precedent by hand takes 90 minutes each, that's 18 hours a month, with the risk of another client's name left in.
What the AI does
Gavel Workflows turns your own Word precedents into templates driven by a questionnaire. On the Standard plan the questionnaire can be client-facing, so a client fills in party names, dates and commercial choices, and Gavel produces the Word document from your template. The solicitor reviews the draft, deals with anything unusual and gives the advice. The templates are the firm's own precedents; the software only fills them in.
A worked example
A three-solicitor commercial firm in Reading prepares about 12 standard agreements a month. It automates its five most used precedents in Gavel Standard and sends clients a questionnaire link for the facts before the solicitor reviews the draft.
Before
90 minutes to adapt a precedent for each of 12 documents: 18 hours a month
After
About 30 minutes to review each automated draft: 6 hours a month
What it's worth
About $1,277£960€1,142A$1,843C$1,805 a month of solicitor time, if it is worth $106£80€95A$154C$150 an hour: 60 minutes saved on each of 12 documents is 720 minutes, 12 hours. Gavel Standard is $253£190€226A$365C$357 a month, or $213£160€190A$307C$301 a month billed annually, for one builder and 50 templates. Building the templates takes time up front, so expect the saving from the second or third month.
How to set it up
- Pick the five precedents you use most and bring them up to date before automating anything.
- Use Gavel's 7-day trial to build one template, with a solicitor checking every optional clause and the logic behind it.
- Choose Standard, which adds client-facing forms; Lite covers basic Word and PDF automation for internal use.
- Ask Gavel about EU hosting and its data processing terms, and record your COLP's approval.
- Have a solicitor review every generated document before it goes to the client, and retest each template after any change in the law.
What goes wrong
- A template with a logic error repeats the same mistake in every document. Test each one with unusual answers before using it live.
- A client's answers can be wrong or incomplete. The solicitor still asks the questions that matter before the document is signed.
- Lite and Standard have one builder seat; more builders need Pro at $354£266€317A$511C$500 a month, or $293£220€262A$422C$414 billed annually.
- Gavel stores data in the United States by default. Agree EU hosting, or check the transfer terms, before clients enter their details.