In the rapidly evolving world of legal technology, NetDocuments has positioned itself at the forefront of AI innovation with its Legal AI Assistant. One of the key features that makes this tool particularly powerful for legal professionals is its ability to maintain conversation threads. Let’s explore how this functionality works and why it matters for your legal practice.
What Are Conversation Threads?
Conversation threads in the NetDocuments AI Assistant function much like a continuous dialogue with a knowledgeable colleague. Rather than treating each query as an isolated event, the system maintains context across multiple interactions, allowing you to build upon previous questions and refine your analysis progressively.
How do you see the Conversation Threads?
Step 1: Click on the AI Assistant Button
Note: The Threads will appear on the right-hand side
Step 2: Click on the History Button
How Long Are Threads Maintained?
One of the most critical aspects of the NetDocuments AI Assistant’s thread functionality is its retention policy. Conversations are maintained for 30 days from the last interaction with that conversation thread. This extended timeframe offers several key advantages for legal professionals:
- Long-term project continuity: You can return to complex due diligence reviews or contract analyses weeks later without losing context
- Collaboration-friendly: Team members can pick up where others left off within the retention window
- Flexible workflow: You’re not pressured to complete your analysis in a single session
The Power of Conversational Context
The AI Assistant’s thread-based approach enables natural, iterative document analysis. Here’s how it works in practice:
Starting a Conversation
When you select documents within the NetDocuments platform and click the “Ask AI” button, the system quickly semantically indexes the content. You can then make your first request using natural language, and the AI Assistant begins building a conversation thread specific to those documents.
Building on Previous Queries
The real power emerges as you continue the conversation. You can:
- Ask follow-up questions without re-explaining the context
- Refine your search based on initial findings
- Request different formats of the same information (summaries, chronologies, translations)
- Drill deeper into specific aspects that emerge from earlier responses
For example, you might start by asking: “What are the governing law provisions in these contracts?” Then follow up with: “For those governed by New York law, what are the remedy provisions?” The Assistant maintains the context from your first question, understanding that “those” refers to the New York-governed contracts identified earlier.
Practical Applications in Legal Work
The thread-based conversation model is particularly valuable for common legal workflows:
Due Diligence
During a merger or acquisition, you might analyze hundreds of lease agreements over multiple sessions. The conversation thread allows you to:
- Start with broad questions about key terms
- Narrow focus to specific contractual details
- Compare findings across document sets
- Generate issue lists progressively as concerns emerge
Contract Review
When reviewing purchase agreements or other complex contracts, you can:
- Begin with high-level questions about structure
- Dive into specific clauses
- Request analysis of potential risks
- Ask for suggested revisions based on your firm’s playbook
Document Analysis
For litigation or compliance matters, conversation threads enable:
- Progressive refinement of document searches
- Building chronologies piece by piece
- Identifying patterns across large document sets
- Extracting and organizing key facts over multiple sessions
Security and Privacy Considerations
It’s important to note that while conversation threads are maintained for up to 60 days, the underlying security model of NetDocuments ensures that:
- Your data never leaves the NetDocuments platform
- Content is not used to train the underlying language model
- All interactions respect your firm’s client and matter-based security and ethical walls
- Only authorized users can access the conversation threads associated with specific documents
Technical Foundation
Microsoft Cognitive Services and Azure OpenAI power the NetDocuments AI Assistant. The conversation handling is designed to be model-agnostic, meaning that as better AI models become available, they can be incorporated without changing the user experience of threaded conversations.
Importantly, only the inputs and outputs are shared with the language model during each exchange. These are not maintained beyond producing the response and are not used to train the AI, providing an additional layer of privacy protection for sensitive legal work.
Best Practices for Using Conversation Threads
To get the most value from the thread functionality:
- Start with broad questions and progressively narrow your focus
- Use descriptive starting queries that set a clear context for the conversation
- Return to threads within the 30-day window for ongoing matters
- Keep the human in the loop – always verify AI-generated answers against source documents
- Leverage document citations – each answer is tagged with references to specific source documents for verification
The Future of Conversational Document Management
NetDocuments continues to enhance its AI Assistant capabilities. Future developments include:
- Semantic search integration for more sophisticated document retrieval
- Specialized agents for specific tasks like contract analysis
- Agentic AI capabilities that can take actions based on natural language requests
- Deeper integration with Microsoft 365 tools
Conclusion
The conversation thread functionality in NetDocuments AI Assistant represents a significant evolution in how legal professionals interact with their document management systems. By maintaining context for up to 60 days and enabling natural, iterative analysis, the system transforms document review from a series of isolated searches into a collaborative dialogue with your document corpus.
This approach not only saves time but also enables deeper, more nuanced analysis of complex legal materials. As you ask follow-up questions and refine your understanding, the AI Assistant becomes increasingly valuable as a research partner – all while keeping your sensitive client data secure within the NetDocuments platform.
Whether you’re conducting due diligence on a significant transaction, reviewing contracts for a new client, or analyzing documents for litigation, the thread-based conversation model helps you work smarter, faster, and with greater confidence in your results.