AI for startup and small business lawyers: NDAs, SaaS contracts and IP assignment in Word

Startup and small business clients send a steady flow of commercial contracts: customer NDAs, SaaS agreements, data processing agreements, contractor agreements and founder IP assignments. They want fast answers at a fixed fee. An AI assistant in Word helps you turn these around in less time, with the same checks every time.

Where AI helps in a startup practice

• Playbook review. LexDraft has built-in playbooks for NDAs, SaaS MSAs, DPAs and services agreements, the four contracts startups see most.
• Fast first drafts of NDAs, consulting and services agreements and employment agreements, written straight into Word.
• Word-level redlines as tracked changes, so a customer's legal team gets a clean turn.
• Plain-English explanations you can adapt for founders who are not lawyers.

Customer contracts: what to check

• NDAs. Mutual or one-way, the definition of Confidential Information, residuals clauses, term, and whether trade secrets are protected for longer. See how to review an NDA.
• SaaS MSAs. Limitation of liability (is it capped at 12 months of fees, and what is carved out?), indemnities, service levels, data ownership, auto-renewal and price increases. See how to review an MSA.
• DPAs. Larger customers ask for one. GDPR Article 28 lists terms a processor contract must contain, and the CCPA regulations require specific terms in service provider contracts. See how to review a DPA.

Founders, employees and contractors: what to check

• Present assignment of IP. Use "hereby assigns", not only "agrees to assign". The difference decided Stanford v. Roche (2011), where a later present assignment beat an earlier promise to assign.
• Contractor work. Under the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. 101), commissioned work is "work made for hire" only in nine listed categories and only with a signed writing. Software from a contractor usually needs an express written assignment.
• Invention carve-outs. California Labor Code 2870 and similar statutes in Washington, Illinois, Minnesota, Delaware and North Carolina limit what an employer can claim.
• Worker classification. California's ABC test (Labor Code 2775) makes many contractors employees. Check the facts, not only the contract label.
• Prior IP. Ask founders to list what they bring in, and license or assign it to the company.

Financing documents, such as SAFEs and stock purchase agreements, usually start from standard forms. LexDraft is for the commercial contracts around them.

A workflow in Word with LexDraft

1. Open the counterparty's draft in Word and open LexDraft.
2. Pick the matching playbook (NDA, SaaS MSA, DPA or services) and the governing state, and run the review.
3. Deal with every Critical and High finding first, then the client's top priorities.
4. Run the defined-term and cross-reference checks.
5. Accept redlines as tracked changes, add your own, and send the client a short note on the top risks.

What LexDraft does not do

LexDraft does not manage cap tables, file formation documents or give legal advice. AI review can miss issues or be wrong; read the final document yourself.

Using AI ethically in this practice

ABA Formal Opinion 512 (July 2024) and many state bars say the same four things: understand the tool, protect client confidences, check every output, and bill fairly for AI-assisted work. Our state-by-state guide to AI ethics for solo lawyers summarises the guidance in 20 states and D.C.

Plans

Start on the Free plan: 5,000 generated words a month, no time limit and no credit card. Professional is $99 a month or $990 a year for 100,000 words a month. Business is $199 a month or $1,990 a year with unlimited words. LexDraft runs in Word 365 (Windows and Mac), Word 2021 and Word on the web, and it does not use customer documents to train models.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. LexDraft does not give legal advice; qualified counsel must review every draft. Spotted something out of date? Email support@lexdraft.ai and we will fix it.