Lawyers Don't Need Another AI Tool - They Need an Ally Inside the Contract
About this episode
David Cowen interviews Rhys Hodkinson about the role of AI in helping transactional lawyers work more effectively with complex contracts.
Live from Legalweek 2026, David Cowen sits down with Rhys Hodkinson , CRO of Definely, to explore where legal AI gets truly useful for transactional lawyers. This episode is about moving beyond generic speed gains and into something more valuable: systems that understand contracts, surface the right context at the right moment, and help lawyers think more strategically without sacrificing precision or professional judgment. Hosted by David Cowen Key Topics Covered Why Definely was built to solve a problem most legal tech ignored: helping transactional lawyers work inside long, complex contracts where context is everything How Definely surfaces definitions, cross-references, schedules, annexes, and related documents directly inside Microsoft Word Why the real moat in legal AI is not just the model, but the grounding layer that understands how contracts actually work How prior contracts, past definitions, and historical drafting patterns can turn AI from a generic tool into a true drafting ally Why firms are under pressure to move faster with AI while still carrying the same professional liability for the final output Rhys's view that the market still has not figured out what to do…
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