Can I use ChatGPT to write my contract?
Zohra Ali, principal solicitor23/10/2026 · 6 minute read
More business owners are asking ChatGPT and other AI chat tools to write their contracts. It is quick, it is free or close to it, and the result usually looks the part. So it is a fair question: do you still need a lawyer, or a solicitor-written template, at all?
The short answer is that an AI tool can help you think through a contract, but it is a risky way to produce the final document. Here is why, and a practical way to use these tools without taking on risk you cannot see.
What AI tools are good at
AI chat tools are genuinely useful for some contract tasks:
- Explaining terms: asking what an indemnity, a restraint or a limitation of liability clause is meant to do.
- Getting organised: making a list of the commercial points you need to agree with the other side before anything is drafted.
- Plain-English summaries: turning a long contract someone has sent you into a rough summary, so you know what to ask about.
- Preparing questions: working out what to ask your solicitor, so the conversation is shorter and cheaper.
Used this way, AI saves you time. The problems start when the chat output becomes the contract itself.
Where it goes wrong
It is not written for your state. AI tools learn mostly from material written for other countries, especially the United States. The result often uses concepts, terms and clauses that do not work the same way under Australian law, or that are unusual in NSW. A clause can read perfectly well and still not do what you think it does here.
It sounds confident when it is wrong. AI tools produce fluent, professional-sounding text whether or not it is correct. They can refer to rules that do not apply, or that do not exist. Nothing in the document tells you which parts to trust.
It only knows what you tell it. A good contract depends on facts you may not think to mention: who actually signs, whether a party is a company or a trust, whether you are dealing with consumers, what happens if the other side does not pay. A solicitor asks those questions. A chat tool fills the gaps with assumptions.
Some clauses can backfire. In Australia, certain contract terms can be unenforceable, and in some situations including them can expose your business to penalties. This is a particular issue for standard form contracts with small businesses and consumers, such as terms of trade. A clause copied from an overseas template may be one of them.
There is no one standing behind it. If a solicitor-written document is wrong, a practising solicitor is responsible for it and the practice carries professional indemnity insurance. If an AI-generated contract is wrong, the cost falls on you, usually at the point a dispute starts and the contract matters most.
Confidentiality. Business details you paste into a public AI tool may be stored or used in ways you do not control. Think carefully before entering customer names, pricing or anything commercially sensitive.
Is an AI-drafted contract still valid?
Generally, yes. A contract is not invalid because AI helped write it. The question is not whether the contract is valid, but whether it says what you need it to say and whether each clause will hold up if it is tested. That is where the risk sits, and you usually find out only when something has already gone wrong.
A safer way to use AI
If you want to use AI tools, use them before and around the contract, not as the contract:
- Use AI to understand the issues and list the points you need to agree.
- Start from a document written for Australian law, ideally by a solicitor who practises in your state, rather than from a blank chat window.
- Answer the questions the document needs, carefully and accurately.
- If the deal is significant, unusual or involves real money, have a solicitor check the final version before anyone signs.
Where Legally Sorted fits
Every Legally Sorted template is written and kept current by a practising NSW solicitor, using precedents from real matters over more than 10 years. You answer plain-English questions, and the questions tell you when your situation is outside what a template safely covers.
You can choose a DIY document, or have a solicitor check it for a fixed fee before you receive it. Either way, the price is shown before you start, there is no subscription, and there is nothing to cancel later.
If you are not sure which document you need, you can browse our documents or ask for a fixed-fee quote.