There is no legal requirement to have a solicitor review a contract before you sign it. Whether you should comes down to how much is at stake, how complicated the contract is and whether you need advice on your own situation or just a clear explanation of what the document says. Some contracts you can check yourself with a bit of guidance, some suit an AI review, and some need a solicitor.
When you should use a solicitor
High-value deals. If the contract commits you to a large sum, or the consequences of getting it wrong would be serious for your business, a solicitor’s fee is a small part of the overall risk. Buying or selling a business, taking investment and signing a major long-term supply deal all fall into this category.
Agreements between several parties. Shareholder agreements, joint ventures and partnership agreements involve rights and obligations running in different directions, and the way one clause interacts with another can matter a great deal. These need someone to think through how they would work for you in practice.
Regulated activities. If you work in financial services, healthcare or another regulated area, the contract may need to meet requirements that sit outside the document itself. A general review won’t reliably pick those up.
Long-term commitments with serious consequences. A multi-year contract with service levels, service credits, exclusivity or minimum purchase commitments needs someone to assess your exposure over its whole life.
Disputes and negotiations. If a dispute has already started, or you want someone to negotiate the terms for you, you need a solicitor. An AI report can’t act for you or deal with the other side.
When you need advice, not information. If your question is “what should I do given my circumstances?” rather than “what does this clause mean?”, that is legal advice. Solicitors are regulated, insured and responsible for the advice they give you. That is what you are paying for, and sometimes it is exactly what you need.
When an AI review is a sensible first step
Plenty of contracts are fairly standard: employment contracts, NDAs, freelance and consultancy agreements, routine supplier and service contracts. With these, the main risk is usually signing something you haven’t properly understood, or missing a clause that departs from the norm.
That is where an AI review helps. QuickLegalCheck reads contracts under the law of England and Wales and flags things like wide restrictive covenants, one-sided liability caps and indemnities, automatic renewals, unusual payment terms and IP clauses that take more than they should. It explains each point in plain English and suggests what you might ask to change. It costs £49 + VAT, with a free first look in about 30 seconds and the full report usually within about ten minutes.
QuickLegalCheck is not a law firm and doesn’t give legal advice. The review is based on what is in the document, not on your wider circumstances, so it tells you what the contract says and where the risks lie rather than what you personally should do.
The middle ground
Some contracts fall in between: a commercial contract with a few unusual terms, a licence that isn’t central to your business, a consultancy agreement with performance obligations. A sensible approach is to start with an AI review. If everything it flags makes sense to you and you are comfortable with it, you may not need to go further. If it raises points you can’t assess, or reveals that the contract is more significant than you thought, take those specific points to a solicitor. Asking a solicitor to advise on a handful of identified issues is usually a smaller piece of work than asking for a review from scratch, although that is for them to judge when they quote.
Questions to ask yourself
What could it cost me if I get this wrong? If the answer is a serious sum, or something you couldn’t absorb, lean towards a solicitor.
Do I understand what the clauses do? A business owner reading a routine supply contract in their own sector will often follow most of it. A licensing agreement in an unfamiliar regulated area is another matter.
Can I negotiate? Large companies often won’t change their standard terms much, although they will sometimes move on the points that matter most. Smaller counterparties are usually more flexible. Either way, you need to know which clauses to raise.
How long will I live with it? A one-off purchase is lower risk than a lease, a partnership or a five-year service contract you will depend on every day.
A practical approach
Have a look at the sample contract review report to see what an AI review covers, and the comparison of AI review, online legal services and solicitors to see how they differ. For an everyday contract, an AI review will often tell you what you need to know. For a high-value, complex or disputed matter, or whenever you need advice on your own position, go to a solicitor, and if an AI report has already been done, send it along with the contract.
Related: what the contract review covers, and a complete sample report.