Contract analysis: buy, build, or fine-tune?

Context

A law firm evaluates AI for contract analysis. A COTS legal-AI suite is fast; an API build is cheap; fine-tuning on the firm's own precedent library is where the differentiation lives — but it needs a team the firm doesn't have yet.

The decision

At this volume and team skill, the cheaper paths win on speed; fine-tune only pulls ahead once the precedent-trained edge is worth staffing a build.

What most miss

Firms fixate on the vendor demo and ignore the flip condition: the moment 'trained on our precedents' becomes a client-facing edge, the math tips to fine-tune.

Stakes

Pick for speed and you may lock in just before the capability becomes your differentiator — an expensive 18-month mistake.