LegalSling help centre

Getting started

1. Add a contract. Upload a PDF or Word document, paste in the text, or open one of the sample contracts to see how it works.
2. Let LegalSling read it. An analysis usually takes a minute or two, and you don’t need to wait on the page.
3. Read, note and brief. Start with the overview, open the clauses that matter to you and add your notes, then prepare a brief for your lawyer.

New accounts start with 500 free credits, and the sample contracts are always free to explore, so you can try LegalSling before you pay anything. See pricing.

What you can upload

• PDF. Most PDFs are read straight from their text. Scanned PDFs, such as a signed copy or a photo of a paper contract, are read from the page images first, which takes a little longer and uses a few more credits.
• Word (.docx). Automatic clause numbering is kept. Tracked changes are read as if every change had been accepted, and you’re told they’re there. Margin comments aren’t analysed, but you’re told about them, and hidden text is pointed out.
• Plain text, as a .txt or .md file, or pasted in.

Files can be up to 20 MB, with up to 300,000 characters of text: roughly 60 to 80 pages. For a longer contract, upload the main agreement without its long appendices.

Not supported yet: older Word files (.doc), Rich Text (.rtf), OpenDocument (.odt), Apple Pages files, images such as JPG or PNG, and password-protected PDFs. Save or export them as a PDF or a .docx first. For a paper contract, most phone scanner apps can save the pages as a single PDF.

While a contract is analysed

The analysis runs on LegalSling’s servers, not in your browser. Once your contract is uploaded you can close the tab, look at other documents or switch off your computer: the finished analysis will be waiting in your documents when you come back.

It usually takes a minute or two. Long contracts take longer, and so do scans, whose pages have to be read first. If you stay, you’ll see each stage as it happens: reading the document, working out who’s who and which law applies, explaining each clause, and checking every quote against the text.

If something interrupts an analysis, such as a server restart, it picks up again by itself the next time you open LegalSling, up to three times. If it still can’t finish, you can start it again, and an analysis that doesn’t finish isn’t charged.

Reading the analysis

Every analysis opens with an overview: how many red flags and points worth a look there are, how many clauses, and a short summary of the contract with the most important points first. Underneath, the detail is in sections you open when you want them: the red flags, the points worth a closer look, anything unusual about the document itself, the governing law, key facts, what the contract doesn’t cover, and questions to reflect on.

The clause list has every clause in order, and you can narrow it to the red flags, the points worth a look, or the clauses you’ve written notes on. Open a clause to see:

• why it’s flagged, if it is, with the exact words that raised the flag
• what it says in plain English, and which side it favours
• what it means for each side
• general legal context, and questions to consider
• a place for your own notes to your lawyer, saved as you type

You can step from one clause to the next without going back to the list, so you can go through just the red flags, one after another. The clauses are highlighted in the contract itself, clicking one opens its explanation, and the paragraph numbers in the analysis link back to the text they refer to.

If you say which party you are, LegalSling marks the flagged clauses that are tilted against you, and puts your side first when it explains what a clause means. The analysis itself stays neutral, and you can change or clear your choice at any time.

Red flags and points worth a look

Red flags are terms that are markedly one-sided, unusual for this kind of agreement, or that may go further than the governing law commonly allows. Points worth a look are terms that are common but deserve a question. Once you’ve said which side you’re on, flagged clauses that favour the other side are marked as tilted against you.

If nothing is flagged, that isn’t a guarantee, so still read the clauses that matter most to you. Our guide to contract red flags explains the terms to watch for.

How the governing law is found

LegalSling takes the governing law only from the contract itself: its governing-law clause, or the courts or arbitration it chooses. You’ll see the exact words it relied on, linked to their paragraph. If the contract doesn’t say which law applies, LegalSling tells you so rather than guessing, and any clues, such as where the parties are registered, are shown as clues only.

It’s built for contracts under the law of England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, EU member states and US states. Contracts under other laws are still explained, with general context only. More about governing law clauses.

Asking questions

You can ask questions about a contract and get answers drawn only from that contract, with links to the paragraphs they rely on, such as “How can each side end this agreement?” You can also ask about a particular clause while you’re reading it. Like the rest of LegalSling, the answers explain; they won’t tell you what to do. A question about a typical contract uses about 64 credits (64p).

Your brief for a lawyer

When you’ve been through the analysis, LegalSling puts together a brief for your lawyer: the document’s details and governing law, what you need help with in your own words, the red flags and points worth a closer look, the other clauses you’ve noted, questions to ask, what the contract leaves out, and anything unusual about the document itself.

Flagged clauses go in automatically, and you choose which others to add. You can print the brief, save it as a PDF, or copy it as text into an email. Our guide explains how to brief a lawyer about a contract.

Credits and paying

• LegalSling is pay as you go: one credit is 1p, there’s no subscription, and credits never expire.
• New accounts get 500 free credits when they sign up, enough for a 1-page contract, or about 7 questions.
• Before an analysis starts, you see about how many credits it will use. The most it could use is set aside, you’re charged only for what it actually uses, and the rest comes straight back.
• If an analysis doesn’t finish, you aren’t charged for it, apart from reading the pages of a scanned PDF if that part worked (you keep the text).
• If you don’t have enough credits, the contract waits, and its analysis starts by itself as soon as you’ve bought more.
• Credits come in packs, paid for by card through Stripe. Your account shows your balance, your payments with their receipts, and what each analysis and question used.

See the packs, and estimate what a contract will use.

Sample contracts

Two sample contracts let you see LegalSling at work before you upload your own: a UK services agreement and a US independent contractor agreement.

Samples are free: opening one never uses credits, even with a balance of zero. Each sample is analysed once and that analysis is shown to everyone, so it opens straight away. Questions you ask about a sample are answered fresh for you, so they use credits like any other question.

Your documents and privacy

Your documents are private to your account and used only to produce your review. To create the analysis, the text is processed by Anthropic’s Claude AI through its API. You can delete any document, or your whole account, at any time, and everything stored about it goes with it. Read how we look after your contracts.

What LegalSling is, and isn’t

LegalSling explains what a contract says and points out things to discuss. It doesn’t tell you whether to sign, what to negotiate, or what to do. It isn’t a law firm, it doesn’t give legal advice, and using it doesn’t create a lawyer–client relationship. It can also miss things or get things wrong, so check anything important with a qualified lawyer.

The best way to use it: read the analysis, add your notes to the clauses that matter to you, then send your lawyer the brief. They start from a clear picture instead of billing you to build one.