Why review contracts with AI before paying a lawyer?

AI reads a 20-page agreement in under a minute and flags auto-renewals, indemnities, and one-sided clauses for pennies, while a lawyer bills hundreds per hour for that same first pass. Running every contract through AI first means you walk into the lawyer conversation already knowing where the risks are, so you pay for judgment instead of reading. The pattern that works: AI-only for routine low-stakes paper, AI-plus-lawyer for anything touching equity, investors, or big money.

A quick orientation. The real value is below: resources worth your time, from people who've actually done it.