Law firm Shoosmiths has launched a self-developed generative artificial intelligence platform designed to transform contract reviews while accelerating the development of junior lawyers.
Named Project Apollo, the AI-powered contract review tool has now been rolled out across the firm following a year-long development and pilot programme undertaken with support from Microsoft.
Developed in-house by Shoosmiths and built within Microsoft’s secure Azure environment, the platform has been designed to review contracts against the firm’s own playbooks and market-leading legal expertise rather than relying on generic AI models.
Unlike conventional AI contract review tools, Project Apollo explains the reasoning behind every suggested amendment, drawing directly on Shoosmiths’ guidance notes and legal know-how. The firm says this creates a transparent and auditable review process while allowing junior lawyers to learn from every contract they work on.
The platform uses gold-standard drafting created by Shoosmiths’ experienced dealmakers and aligns recommendations with each client’s preferred language, commercial position and risk profile. All AI-generated outputs continue to be reviewed and approved by a senior lawyer before being shared with clients.
David Jackson, chief executive of Shoosmiths, said: “With our platform, developing lawyers can learn more, faster. Our self-developed generative AI software enables the firm to deploy its collective dealmaking expertise at scale, allowing lawyers to not only see what amendments have been made, but most significantly, why.”
Shoosmiths says embedding the collective experience of its lawyers, including its market-leading mergers and acquisitions expertise, allows contracts to be reviewed more efficiently while improving consistency and supporting better-informed recommendations.
Jackson added: “We have advised on more M&A deals in the City than any firm for four years running. This puts that experience in the hands of every lawyer in the firm, from day one.
“Our best-in-class tool will not only cut time in the contract review process for all our lawyers, but it will also enhance the quality and consistency of advice, accelerate deal delivery and fast-track the development of the next generation of lawyers.”
Microsoft supported the development of the platform, which operates within the company’s Azure cloud infrastructure.
Darren Hardman, chief executive of Microsoft UK & Ireland, said: “Law firms hold enormous expertise and the challenge is always how to share it. Project Apollo is a strong example of AI doing what it does best: taking the knowledge of Shoosmiths’ most experienced lawyers and making it available to everyone in the firm, at every stage of their career.
“The fact that it explains its reasoning at every step makes it a genuine learning tool, not just a productivity one. That’s what good AI adoption looks like, and we’re proud to have supported them in building it.”
In Case You Missed It:
Shoosmiths said its decision to develop proprietary AI technology more than a year ago reflected its long-term innovation strategy and marked an early move away from off-the-shelf legal AI solutions now being adopted across the sector.
Project Apollo forms part of a wider portfolio of AI solutions being developed by the firm and follows the recent launch of Shoosmiths’ AI Fluency Framework, an initiative designed to encourage and assess the effective use of artificial intelligence in delivering business and client outcomes.
