AI can assist with legal professionals with their transactional matters across a wide range of activities, including deal assessment, legal research, due diligence, contract drafting and negotiation, regulatory compliance, closing processes, and stakeholder communications.

To help legal professionals better understand the opportunities and responsibilities, the Thomson Reuters Institute and the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) have released the AI Guide for Transactional Legal Professionals. The guide is designed for legal professionals seeking to better understand how AI is affecting their transactional practice and how these tools can be incorporated responsibly into day-to-day workflows.

Concise, practical guidance on AI in transactional practices

The guide outlines how AI can help legal professionals work more efficiently by assisting with information analysis, document review, drafting, regulatory monitoring, and transaction management. It is intended as an introductory resource that helps practitioners understand in which situations AI may provide value and where human expertise remains not only indispensable but required.

The AI Guide for Transactional Legal Professionals covers:

• AI applications across transactional workflows, with practical examples
• Limitations and risks associated with AI use
• Discussions around confidentiality, privilege, and professional responsibility
• Approaches for incorporating AI into transactional processes and workflows
• Emerging capabilities and future developments in transactional AI
• Additional resources for continued learning and reference

The guide also addresses considerations that are unique to transactional practices, including contract analysis, diligence review, negotiation support, regulatory compliance, and closing management. It examines which tasks are appropriate for AI assistance, highlights potential risks such as inaccurate legal analysis or confidentiality concerns, and emphasizes the importance of human-in-the-loop review and verification.

This guide breaks down AI use in transactional practices into practical concepts that legal practitioners can use to foster understanding in their work.

The guide draws on the expertise of a cross-section of practitioners, technologists, and thought leaders from across the legal industry.

“Conversations about AI in legal practice tend to center on individual tasks," says Brendan W. Miller, J.D., Legal Innovation & Practice Transformation Advisor and Former AmLaw 100 Partner, who co-authored the Guide. "Transactional practitioners, particularly, need a wider lens: a deal can move swiftly through diligence, negotiation, regulatory review, closing, and beyond. And AI can contribute at every stage. The challenge is integrating AI intentionally so that practitioner judgment stays active and central throughout the process. This guide is designed to help transactional legal professionals build that foundation.”

Part of the AI Guideline Series

The guide is part of the AI Guideline series from Thomson Reuters Institute and ILTA, and is a follow-up to AI Guide for Legal Professionals: A Foundational Overview, which provides a grounding on how lawyers and legal professionals can integrate AI into their practice and better understand their responsibilities.

Additional guides will be published in coming months.

You can access the newly published AI Guide for Transactional Legal Professionals here, or you can access it in flipbook format here‍‍