Definely Review: AI Contract Drafting Inside Microsoft Word for Australian Lawyers

Verdict (TL;DR): Definely is a well-designed Microsoft Word add-in suite for legal contract drafting, built by former Magic Circle lawyers who clearly understand the workflow. The five-module suite — Vault, Draft, Enhance, Proof, and Cascade — covers the full pre-execution drafting cycle without requiring lawyers to leave Word. Security credentials are strong: ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, and ISO 42001. The catch: pricing is entirely sales-led, so there's no transparency on cost. Australian firms will also find no confirmed AU data residency, no AUD pricing, and no local support presence. This tool does not replace qualified legal advice. For Australian firms already living in Word for contract work, it belongs on the evaluation shortlist.

Score: 17/25 — ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Very Good

Last reviewed: 26 June 2026 by Adam.

What Definely is

Definely launched in London in 2017, founded by former Magic Circle lawyers who were frustrated by the gap between how law firms actually draft contracts and what legal technology offered. The founding insight was practical: lawyers live in Microsoft Word, so the most effective legal AI should work inside Word — not require them to copy and paste into a separate platform.

The product is a Microsoft Word add-in suite, branded as the Definely Suite. It currently consists of five modules:

• Vault — an AI-powered clause library connected to document management systems (iManage, NetDocuments), allowing lawyers to search for and insert precedent clauses and definitions at the clause level
• Draft — contract review and navigation tool providing context-aware contract insights, precedent gap analysis, and cross-contract review
• Enhance — agentic AI-powered contract review, detecting undefined terms, flagging risk, and producing AI-assisted redline suggestions with reported 40–70 per cent speed improvements
• Proof — automated legal proofreading: fixing punctuation inconsistencies, detecting definition and cross-reference errors, and removing drafting notes before finalising
• Cascade — launched August 2025, a first-of-its-kind tool that detects the knock-on effects of contract edits across 1st, 2nd, and 3rd order impacts, tracking how changes in one clause ripple through related clauses and linked contracts

The company raised a $30M Series B in June 2025, led by Revaia, with participation from Alumni Ventures, Beacon Capital, and — notably — Clio, the practice management software company. Current customers include A&O Shearman, BT, Deloitte, and Dentons. The round is being used to accelerate global expansion, including a US presence.

What it costs in Australia

Definely does not publish pricing publicly. This is a fully sales-led product.

No public pricing tiers, no per-seat prices, and no free trial are available. Australian firms need to contact Definely directly for a quote.

No AUD pricing is published. No GST treatment is stated. Pricing is denominated in GBP for UK customers — no Australian-equivalent pricing is confirmed.

For context, peer products in this category (Word-native legal AI add-ins) typically range from USD $50–150 per user per month at the mid-market level, scaling for enterprise configurations (not specific to Definely). Treat any figure as an estimate until confirmed.

The SoftwareOne Marketplace lists the Definely Suite as a purchasable product for Microsoft customers, which suggests some degree of standardised enterprise licensing — but no price is shown (unconfirmed).

How it works in practice

The Definely experience is intentionally contained within Microsoft Word. A lawyer installs the add-in, connects it to their firm's document management system (iManage or NetDocuments for Vault; broader integration for other modules), and works through their contract drafting process with AI assistance available at each stage.

A practical walkthrough:

1. Vault surfaces relevant precedent clauses from the firm's own document library as the lawyer drafts. Rather than searching a DMS manually, the clause surfaces contextually — you are drafting an indemnity clause and Vault shows you the firm's preferred precedent indemnity language.
2. Draft provides cross-document review and context: if the contract references another agreement, Draft can pull the relevant terms for comparison without leaving the current document.
3. Enhance runs the AI-powered review pass — identifying undefined terms, flagging non-standard risk positions, and producing redline suggestions against the firm's playbook positions. The agentic AI architecture means multiple AI agents work through the document concurrently, rather than sequentially.
4. Proof runs a final automated check for punctuation inconsistencies, definition errors, cross-reference integrity, and drafting notes. This is the "clean it up before it leaves the building" step.
5. Cascade — the newest and most technically distinctive module — analyses the knock-on effects of any edit. If you change a liability cap in clause 12, Cascade identifies every other clause in the contract (and in linked contracts) where that change has a consequential effect: a second-order ripple through indemnity provisions, a third-order effect on insurance requirements. No other tool on the market currently does this.

What it does well

Stays in Word. This is not a minor convenience feature — it is the product's core value proposition. Lawyers do not want to re-train their workflow around a separate platform. Definely meets them where they work.

Cascade is genuinely novel. The ability to track consequential effects of contract edits across a document and linked agreements is a real capability gap that Cascade fills. For complex commercial transactions with multiple linked contracts, this reduces a major source of error.

Proof is underrated. Automated legal proofreading — catching definition errors, cross-reference inconsistencies, and stray drafting notes — is unglamorous but high-value work that juniors currently spend hours on. Proof does this in seconds.

Vault connects to real DMS systems. Rather than maintaining a standalone clause library, Vault indexes the firm's existing documents in iManage or NetDocuments. That means the clause library reflects the firm's actual precedent practice, not a generic template library.

Strong security. ISO/IEC 27001:2022, SOC 2 Type II, and ISO 42001 — the international AI management systems standard. For firms with enterprise security requirements, Definely clears the baseline bar.

Founded by practising lawyers. Products built by people who did the work tend to be more accurate in their assumptions about what workflow actually looks like. The Definely Suite shows that lineage.

What it doesn't do well

No pricing transparency. For a product targeting mid-market and large law firms, the complete absence of any indicative pricing is frustrating. Evaluation requires entering a sales process before knowing whether the product is in budget.

Not a document automation tool. Definely is explicitly not designed to build entire contracts from scratch. It works within and around existing drafts. Firms needing full contract automation — generating first drafts from matter-specific inputs — need a different tool (or a complementary one like Juro or Josef).

No legal research capability. Definely does not do case law research, legislation analysis, or legal Q&A. It is a drafting and review tool, not a legal workspace. For broader legal AI capability, you need to pair it with another product.

No confirmed Australian data residency. Definely processes data through its cloud infrastructure. The privacy policy references GDPR and UK GDPR frameworks, and mentions Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers outside the EEA. No Australian data residency option is confirmed. For Australian firms handling personal information under the Privacy Act 1988, this offshore processing question needs to be resolved contractually before deployment.

Legal professional privilege. Whether AI-assisted contract review and drafting is covered by legal professional privilege is an active area of uncertainty in Australian law. Definely has not published Australian-specific guidance on this question.

Microsoft-only. If your firm uses Google Workspace or does not have a Microsoft 365 deployment, Definely is not available to you. The product is entirely built on the Word add-in architecture.

This tool does not replace qualified legal advice. Definely's AI-assisted redlines, risk flags, and clause suggestions are tools to assist qualified lawyers — not legal opinions. Every output requires review by a qualified Australian legal practitioner before client delivery or reliance.

Australian fit

Definely is a UK product with no confirmed Australian presence — no local office, no AU data centre, no AUD pricing, and no Australian-specific template library.

The global expansion from the $30M Series B is focused on the US market. Australian expansion is not mentioned in the company's public communications.

Data is processed through Definely's UK-based infrastructure. Documents and clauses are stored in MinIO with encryption at rest and in transit. For Australian firms processing client documents under the Privacy Act 1988, the cross-border data transfer implications need to be assessed. Definely relies on Standard Contractual Clauses for EEA transfers, but the Australian position is not addressed.

The Cascade feature and the quality of the broader suite are compelling enough that some Australian firms will deploy Definely despite these gaps — particularly if their DMS is iManage or NetDocuments and their workflow is Word-centric. But they should do so with clear contractual protections around data handling and explicit awareness that the Privacy Act applies to their use of any offshore AI tool processing client personal information.

Australian Fit score: 3/5. Strong product quality and relevant security certifications; penalised for no AU data centre, no AU pricing, no AU templates, and no local presence.

Alternatives

• Spellbook — also a Word-native contract drafting AI, broader adoption in mid-market law firms, and generally considered more accessible for smaller teams.
• Harvey AI — broader legal AI workspace including research and memo drafting; also enterprise-priced but with more comprehensive capabilities.
• Josef — Australian-built document automation platform; excellent for firms that need first-draft generation rather than review and editing assistance.
• See also: Best AI Legal Tools for Australia roundup

Bottom line

Definely is one of the more practically-minded legal AI products on the market. The founding team's Magic Circle background shows: the product solves real problems in the real workflow rather than engineering solutions in search of a problem.

Cascade, in particular, is a capability with no direct equivalent in the market right now. If your firm regularly handles complex multi-contract commercial transactions and spends real time tracking consequential amendment effects, Cascade alone may justify the evaluation.

The Australian fit gaps — no data residency, no local presence, no AUD pricing, no Privacy Act guidance — are real and need to be addressed contractually before deployment. But they are gaps you can close with good procurement practice, not structural barriers.

For Australian law firms already committed to Word and iManage or NetDocuments, Definely is worth adding to the shortlist. Request a demo, push for pricing transparency, and get your privacy team to review the data processing agreement before signing.

Score

Note: Australian Fit gate — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent requires Australian Fit ≥ 4/5. Definely scores 3/5 on Australian Fit; five-star rating not available regardless of raw total.

Frequently asked questions

What does Definely do?

Definely is a Microsoft Word add-in suite for legal contract drafting and review. Its five modules are: Vault (AI-powered clause library connected to iManage or NetDocuments), Draft (cross-document contract review and navigation), Enhance (agentic AI contract review with redline suggestions), Proof (automated legal proofreading), and Cascade (tracks knock-on effects of contract edits across linked clauses and documents). It operates entirely within Microsoft Word.

Is Definely available in Australia?

Yes, Definely is available to Australian firms, but it has no Australian office, no confirmed AU data residency option, and no AUD pricing. Australian firms should review the data processing agreement and assess Privacy Act 1988 implications before deployment. Pricing requires a direct sales enquiry.

What is Definely Cascade?

Definely Cascade, launched in August 2025, is a first-of-its-kind AI tool that detects and tracks the knock-on effects of edits within a contract. If you change a clause, Cascade identifies every first, second, and third-order impact of that change across related clauses and linked contracts. No other mainstream legal AI tool currently offers this specific capability.

Sources

• Definely homepage and suite overview — Definely (primary) — Wayback 12 July 2026
• The Definely Suite — product page — Definely (primary) — Wayback 25 January 2026
• Meet Cascade — launch announcement — Definely (primary; Cascade launched August 2025) — Wayback 13 June 2026
• Definely Enhance agentic AI launch — Definely (primary; May 2026) — Wayback 19 April 2026
• Definely Vault FAQ — Definely (primary) — Wayback 19 April 2026
• Definely Trust Centre — Definely (primary; ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II, ISO 42001 confirmed) — Wayback 8 June 2026
• Definely $30M Series B — TechCrunch — TechCrunch, June 2025
• Definely $30M Series B — Definely newsroom — Definely (primary) — Wayback 8 March 2026
• Definely privacy policy — Definely (primary; data handling confirmed) — Wayback 6 August 2026
• Definely on Crunchbase — Crunchbase (secondary; funding history)

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