Visual Contracts and The Visual Contract Builder with Lieke Beelen

Is it just me or is the world changing so fast that it feels a little scary?

Every day we learn of a new AI tool, or someone says AI lawyers are going to replace us, and then there are people like me, saying lawyers need to do things differently. I get it. It’s a lot to take in - especially for the legal profession, where there is so much resistance to change.

At Lawyers Design School we do a lot of work on visual contracts and how to present legal information in a way that’s legally binding and still understandable for the user. I see lawyers roll their eyes at me and say we are evangelizing legal design. But the thing is, people don’t enjoy reading contracts (do you?) and as lawyers, our job is to help them want to read them.

Getting your head around how to even start with a visual contract is tough because it requires a change in mindset - and it takes time. But they are incredibly valuable.

What if I told you that soon you’ll be able to access a tool that is the “Canva for contracts”? A tool that takes a traditional contract and builds the visual elements you need to lead the user through the document in a way that makes sense to them.

This week on Legal Design Thinking IRL, I chatted with Lieke Beelen, founder of Visual Contracts. Lieke is a designer working with lawyers and legal teams to make their contracts more accessible for users. Her latest project is The Visual Contract Builder, an AI-assisted tool that helps design visual contracts templates. We talk about what visual contracts are and why they are important. We also talk about the limitations of visual contracts.

I’m excited about what The Visual Contract Builder will mean for design-thinking lawyers and how it can help us create thoughtful, user-centric contracts easily.

I know some of us are overwhelmed with the speed of change right now - and I’m not here to make it worse. When we pause and let our minds slow down a little bit, and leave the noise behind, we can think about what might be.

You don’t need to jump on board because it might not be for you, and that’s ok. But if you’re curious about legal design, you can always start by listening to the episode to see what “could be.” No pressure. No “must do this, or must do that”. Just open your mind to the possibilities.

It’s a lovely conversation about visual contracts in action, without any hard sell. Join us on the replay, friend. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

PS: Want to stay on top of the latest developments in legal design? Join me on LinkedIn every Wednesday at 8 am EST. Pop it in your calendar now.

Do you think AI is going to replace some of the work?lawyers?do?