Product Spotlight: Definely launches AI-powered knowledge management solution Vault

London-based legaltech company Definely has announced the launch of Definely Vault, an AI-powered knowledge management solution to transform how legal professionals access and use their organisation’s collective expertise. 

The solution integrates smoothly with law firms’ document management systems, allowing lawyers to instantly search and use their firm’s entire knowledge base directly within Microsoft Word.

Definely Vault’s key features

Definely Vault offers firm-wide knowledge access, allowing legal professionals to instantly surface relevant precedents and clauses from their organisation’s repository. 

With AI-powered recommendations, Vault ensures contract consistency by providing smart, context-aware suggestions tailored to the specific provision or clause being drafted. This streamlines the contract creation process, enabling users to insert ‘gold standard’ precedents or clauses with just a click, accelerating drafting. 

At the core of Vault is its Semantic Search capability, which offers contextually relevant results sorted by relevance. It handles extensive document libraries, achieving search speeds of 3-4 seconds even for databases containing up to 250,000 documents.

Nnamdi Emelifeonwu, CEO of Definely, says, “We’re viewing Definely Vault as more than a product launch. This is a major step in our ability to challenge how legal professionals interact with their organisation’s collective knowledge.”

“Vault will equip lawyers with technology that significantly enhances efficiency and accuracy. By enabling instant access to relevant clauses and definitions, in tandem with our Semantic Search capability, we’re helping legal teams work smarter and faster while maintaining the highest standards of consistency across their contracts. This is just the beginning of what we have planned in our innovation roadmap.”

Definely Vault offers flexible document labelling options, including manual and automatic extraction from document management systems, with AI-powered labelling planned for future release, further streamlining the document classification process.

Upcoming features include workflow management for approvals and escalations, and analytics to track clause and document usage across the organisation’s knowledge base.

How does it work?

Definely Vault streamlines document management by allowing users to upload documents either individually via a Word add-in or as firm administrators through a browser-based portal.

Administrators can connect Vault to a Document Management System (DMS) to ensure that all clauses and definitions remain up-to-date with any changes. 

The system processes and extracts key metadata from uploaded documents using Definely’s scanning technology, breaking them down into individual clauses and definitions. This information is stored and synchronised with Elasticsearch, enabling fast and accurate searches for specific clauses or definitions. 

When inserting content from Vault into a document, the system maintains the original formatting, ensuring “seamless” integration. This means that the font, style, and numbering will integrate with the existing document format.

Additionally, Definely Vault checks for undefined terms in clauses and suggests definitions, helping to prevent potential issues in the document drafting process.

Everything you need to know about Definely

Definely was created by two lawyers at Magic Circle law firm Freshfields, including one of the few registered blind lawyers practising in London, to make legal documents more accessible to those with visual impairments. 

In doing so, they realised their innovation addressed a common challenge faced by all lawyers: the time-consuming and complex process of reviewing, drafting, and understanding legal documents.

Launched in 2020 and backed by Microsoft and Google, Definely simplifies the reading, editing, and understanding of legal documents for lawyers. Its product suite provides tools that streamline these tasks, helping lawyers quickly and efficiently manage legal documents at every stage before a contract is signed.

The company offers a subscription-based suite of productivity solutions, delivered as a Microsoft Word Plugin, which assists lawyers at the pre-execution stage of the contract lifecycle. 

Definely serves a broad range of clients, including top law firms and Fortune 500 companies like Dentons, Eversheds, DLA Piper, Deloitte, Ericsson, The Asian Development Bank, and Barclays. 

Operating across Europe, North America, Africa, Australia, and Asia, Definely was recognised as the 23rd fastest-growing technology company in the UK by Deloitte, making it the fastest-growing legaltech firm in the country.

In May 2024, Definely secured $7M in a Series A funding round led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from Cornerstone VC and Zrosk Investment Ltd. The round also saw participation from well-known angels Claire Hughes Johnson, Comron Sattari, Ajay Patel, and Babatunde Soyoye join the cap table.