Assisted contractual screening

How can you identify contractual points to refer to the legal department without confusing a flagged issue with a legal conclusion?

1250 € per session, excl. VAT

In short

This half-day session of 3 hours trains participants to examine a contract using an authorised generative AI tool, locate sensitive wording and document flagged issues. Participants produce a traceable review matrix, assess omissions and prepare questions for validation by a qualified professional before any decision is made.

Why this training?

A limitation of liability, a notice period for termination or an obligation described in an annex can alter contractual exposure without appearing in the financial terms. Identifying them requires linking clauses, definitions and cross-references rather than searching for a few isolated words. AI can support this reading, but it can also invent a clause that is not there or be too quick to label a provision unlawful. The training requires participants to return to the text, separate findings from hypotheses and leave legal interpretation to a qualified professional. Continuing case study: The fictitious organisation « Sénoval Capteurs » is examining a twelve-month maintenance contract for its equipment. The supplier proposes automatic renewal, a liability cap, asymmetric penalties and a contradictory annex on response times. The participant prepares the points to refer to the legal department before negotiation. Transfer to the workplace: Reuse the matrix on a second fictitious contract, then adapt the clause categories to the organisation’s usual contracts with the legal department. Any subsequent use involves authorised and anonymised documents; flagged issues remain subject to qualified human validation.

Objectives of this training

  • Define the scope of the contract, its annexes and the context relevant to the review.
  • Identify clauses on liability, termination, payment, confidentiality and intellectual property.
  • Link each flagged issue to an exact quotation and a verifiable location.
  • Distinguish between commercial sensitivity, ambiguous drafting and a legal question.
  • Measure omissions and false alerts before submitting a reasoned overview.

Who is it for and what are the prerequisites?

Roles and tasks concerned

  • Buyers and commercial managers preparing reviews of supplier or customer contracts.
  • Legal assistants and administrative managers responsible for initial contractual screening.

Prior skills

  • Have previously formulated and refined a request in a generative AI assistant.
  • Be able to read a commercial contract and recognise its main sections, with no legal expertise required.

What you will work on

  1. Defining the scope of the reading

    Objective: Prepare a review without exposing confidential data. Parties, subject matter, duration, annexes and document hierarchy; confidentiality of inputs; limitations of automated assistance.

  2. Extracting wording for examination

    Objective: Identify sensitive provisions without drawing conclusions about their validity. Liability, renewal, termination, penalties, confidentiality and intellectual property; the difference between a missing clause and a clause that has not been found.

  3. Cross-referencing clauses and providing context

    Objective: Turn extracts into substantiated flagged issues. Cross-references, definitions, exceptions, contradictions and asymmetries; careful wording of impacts according to the contractual position.

  4. Checking and then submitting

    Objective: Assess the reliability of issue identification before use. Comparison with the model answer, counting omissions and false alerts, prioritising human review; no automated sensitive decisions.

What you take away

  • Review instruction specifying scope, categories and a prohibition on inventing information.
  • Issue matrix with quotations, references, possible impacts and open questions.
  • Checklist for omissions and false alerts.
  • Handover note for the qualified legal professional.

Method and assessment

  • Short instructional sessions followed by immediate practice on the continuing case study.
  • Individual work followed by work in pairs, with peer review of the outputs.
  • Guided group discussion: what works, what needs correcting and what remains a human decision.
  • Preparation: Have access to a generative AI tool authorised by the organisation; check internal document-processing rules. Read the fictitious file provided: contract, technical annex and negotiation context, with no actual confidential documents.

Observable criteria: Each flagged issue includes an exact quotation and a reference that can be located in the file. ; Contradictions between the contract and the annex are explicitly documented. ; Possible impacts are distinguished from unvalidated legal conclusions. ; Omissions and false alerts are counted by comparison with the reference model answer. ; The final note indicates uncertainties and points requiring validation..

Frequently asked questions

Can AI declare a clause unlawful?

An AI response does not constitute validation. The legal classification and applicable rules must be checked with your legal department.

Can we work on a real contract?

The exercises use fictitious or anonymised cases, exclusively within tools authorised by the organisation.

Does the training cover all contracts?

No. The case concerns commercial maintenance; the categories and questions must be adapted to other contracts.

Does the deliverable allow immediate signing?

No. It prepares for a review by a qualified professional; no decision on signing or negotiation is automated.

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