The Contract Risk Chain

Description

GOAL
Build a workflow that starts automatically for every new contract in the monitored folder: text recognition including OCR, structured extraction of the key terms, a risk analysis sorted into high, medium, and low, filing the summary in the "Legal Reviews" database, and notifying the legal team with a link and priority.

Adapt the structure to the concepts of your automation tool (for example nodes, steps, zaps, or agent actions). While doing so, preserve the trigger logic, the sequence, and the data flow.

TRIGGER
Type: new file (PDF or DOCX) in the "Contracts/New" folder in your cloud storage.

STEPS
1. Duplicate check: check a file hash or contract number as a dedup key, skip contracts already processed.
2. Extract text: read out the contract text, run OCR first for scanned PDFs without exception.
3. AI step: key terms extraction. Use exactly the Key Terms Extraction working prompt (see the Working Prompts section). Output: structured contract elements.
4. AI step: risk analysis. Use exactly the Risk Analysis working prompt (see the Working Prompts section) with the key terms from step 3 as input. Output: executive summary, risks sorted into high, medium, and low, recommendations for action, and review priority.
5. Store: file the summary in structured form in the "Legal Reviews" database, with a link to the original document and the review priority as its own field.
6. Notify: inform the legal team by email or chat, with a link to the review and the priority. For priority high, apply the defined escalation rule, for example a direct message instead of a shared channel.

PROMPTS
Take over both working prompts from the section of the same name unchanged. Do not alter the placeholders they contain, and map them as described in the data flow.

DATA FLOW
Step 2 to step 3: extracted contract text as [CONTRACT_TEXT].
Step 3 to step 4: structured key terms as [KEY_TERMS].
Step 4 to steps 5 and 6: executive summary, risks, recommendations for action, and review priority.
Trigger to step 5: link to the original document.

ERROR HANDLING
PDF not searchable or OCR returns empty text: stop processing and send an error notice to the legal team instead of analyzing empty text.
Very long contract, token limit reached: extract section by section and then merge the key terms.
Duplicate detected: skip and log it.
Notification fails: check addresses, channels, and permissions, and log the error.
Principle: the analysis stays groundwork and does not replace a legal review. Every review goes to the legal team.

PLACEHOLDER CONVENTION
[CONTRACT_TEXT] and [KEY_TERMS] are mapped fully dynamically, as described in the data flow. There are no placeholders that require manual configuration in the prompts themselves. Only the monitored folder, the OCR tool, the target database, the recipients, and the escalation rule are configured manually.

SELF CHECK BEFORE COMPLETION
Check, before you report the workflow as finished:
1. Are all steps connected correctly, including the duplicate check before the actual processing?
2. Are both working prompts inserted in full and unchanged, and are [CONTRACT_TEXT] and [KEY_TERMS] mapped correctly?
3. Is the OCR handling for scans active, and is the review priority carried through into the database and the notification?
4. Are all points listed that require manual configuration: the "Contracts/New" folder, the OCR tool, the target database, the recipients, the escalation rule, and the LLM access?

Working prompts

You are a legally knowledgeable assistant. Analyze the following contract and extract the key contract elements in structured form.

CONTRACT:
[CONTRACT_TEXT]

Extract the following information:

1. CONTRACTING PARTIES
   - Client:
   - Contractor:

2. CONTRACT TERM
   - Start date:
   - End date:
   - Automatic renewal: (Yes/No plus conditions)

3. TERMINATION PERIODS
   - Ordinary termination:
   - Extraordinary termination:

4. COSTS AND PAYMENT TERMS
   - Total volume:
   - Payment frequency:
   - Payment due date:
   - Price adjustment clauses:

5. LIABILITY AND WARRANTY
   - Liability limitations:
   - Warranty periods:
   - Insurance:

6. OTHER IMPORTANT CLAUSES
   - Confidentiality:
   - Data protection:
   - Jurisdiction:
   - Other:

State "Not specified" when information is missing or unclearly worded in the contract, instead of speculating.

You are an experienced lawyer. Based on the following extracted contract data, create a risk analysis and an executive summary.

EXTRACTED CONTRACT DATA:
[KEY_TERMS]

TASKS:

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (3 to 5 sentences)
Summarize the key points of the contract: who, what, when, how much.

2. RISK ANALYSIS
Identify possible legal risks in the following categories:

   HIGH RISKS (immediate action required):
   - [Critical points, for example missing liability limitation, unrealistic termination periods]

   MEDIUM RISKS (should be reviewed):
   - [Moderate risks, for example unclear wording, missing clauses]

   LOW RISKS (for information):
   - [Minor points of note]

3. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ACTION
   - [Concrete next steps for the legal team]

4. REVIEW PRIORITY
   Assess the urgency: HIGH / MEDIUM / LOW
   Rationale: [1 to 2 sentences]

Stay precise, factual, and practice oriented. At the end, point out that this assessment does not replace legal advice and that results with legal implications should be reviewed by a lawyer.

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