Ask HN: What's the best way to create a database for legal document clauses?

[padheyam]

I am a lawyer, so apologies if the question is too naive. I have thousands of agreements from over a decade of my legal practice. These documents comprise of various contractual clauses (multiple paragraphs). Right now, the documents are stored in folders and word/pdf formats :D. I am now looking to store clauses (and not entire documents) relating to similar topics together. Any suggestions how I should go about doing this? While for now it is intended for my captive use, at some point in the distant, I might want to provide access to public as well. Though I am not a tech expert, I am reasonably confident of learning just enough to solve any particular problem I face.

[inphovore]

I would recommend SQLite + a nice usable interface tool like

datasette

https://github.com/simonw/datasette

Or SQLitebrowser https://sqlitebrowser.org/

(There are other generalized tools, search around to see if there are more suitable.)

You can store whole files, in addition to searchable text fields , and the single file is easier to share or turn into a more sophisticated “app” when the time is right.

[padheyam]

Thanks! will check these out.

[scripta]

Have you looked into what legal tech startups such as Ironclad offer in this regard? There are a number of contract-related tech products.

We are a legal tech startup building a SaaS that is primarily geared towards litigators at the moment, but we do want to expand our functionality to transactional attorneys in the future, and this sort of thing will very much be in our wheelhouse.

[padheyam]

for idiosyncratic reasons, don't want to rely on third party SaaS.