AI for technology lawyers: SaaS, licensing, AI terms and data agreements in Word

Technology transactions lawyers spend their days on SaaS subscriptions, software licenses, development and services agreements, DPAs and, more and more, AI vendor terms. The documents are long and the issues repeat: data use, IP ownership, liability for breaches and service levels. LexDraft runs inside Word with built-in SaaS MSA, DPA, Services and NDA playbooks, so the first pass is quick and the markup comes back as tracked changes.

Where AI helps in a technology practice

• SaaS agreements with the SaaS MSA playbook. See our SaaS agreement checklist.
• Development and services agreements with the Services playbook: scope, acceptance, IP assignment and warranties.
• DPAs with the DPA playbook.
• Software and IP licenses with a general review and our license agreement checklist.
• First drafts of NDAs, services and consulting agreements, with a SaaS clause library.

Issues to check in technology contracts

• IP ownership in development work. Under the Copyright Act, commissioned software written by an independent contractor is generally not a "work made for hire" (17 U.S.C. 101), so the customer needs a written assignment signed by the developer (17 U.S.C. 204(a)).
• Open source. Ask for a list of open source components and their licenses. Copyleft licenses such as the GPL can require source code to be shared when the software is distributed.
• AI vendor terms. Whether the vendor may use customer inputs or outputs to train models, who owns outputs, and what indemnity covers output claims. The Copyright Office's position, upheld in Thaler v. Perlmutter (D.C. Cir. 2025), is that material generated by AI without human authorship is not protected by copyright.
• Trade secrets. Confidentiality agreements with employees and contractors should include the whistleblower immunity notice in the Defend Trade Secrets Act (18 U.S.C. 1833(b)); without it, an employer loses the right to exemplary damages and attorney fees against that individual.
• Data and privacy. Service provider terms required by the CCPA regulations (Cal. Code Regs. tit. 11, section 7051) and processor terms under GDPR Article 28.
• Bankruptcy. Section 365(n) of the Bankruptcy Code lets a licensee of intellectual property keep using it if the licensor rejects the license in bankruptcy. Source code escrow is the practical backup for on-premises software.
• Export controls. Encryption software can be subject to the Export Administration Regulations; check the export clause if the customer operates internationally.

A workflow in Word with LexDraft

1. Open the agreement in Word and open LexDraft in the side panel.
2. Pick the SaaS MSA, Services or DPA playbook and the governing-law state, then run the review. Findings come back graded Critical, High, Medium or Low, with missing standard terms flagged.
3. Run the defined-term and cross-reference quick checks. They are rule-based and finish almost instantly.
4. Accept the word-level redlines you agree with as native Word tracked changes, reject the rest and add your own.
5. Read the liability, indemnity and data sections together before you send the turn.

What LexDraft does not do

LexDraft does not scan code, audit open source use, classify items for export or give legal advice. It has no software license or AI-terms playbook yet, so run a general review for those. AI review can miss issues or be wrong, so read the marked-up document yourself before it goes out.

Using AI ethically

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 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.