Addressing Legal and Contractual Matters in Construction Using Natural Language Processing: A Critical Review
Claims, disputes, and litigations are major legal issues in construction projects, which often result in cost overruns, delays, and adverse working relationships among the contracting parties. Recent advances in natural language processing (NLP) techniques offer great potentials that can process voluminous unstructured data from legal documents to draw insightful information about the root causes of issues and prevention strategies. Several efforts have been undertaken in the last decades that used NLP to tackle a wide range of problems related to legal issues in construction such as the quality review of contracts and the identification of common patterns in legal cases. The research line on NLP-based techniques for analyzing legal texts of construction projects has progressed well recently; it, however, is still in the early stage. This paper aims to perform a critical review of recently published articles to analyze the achievements and limitations of the state of the art on NLP-bas
Claims, disputes, and litigations are major legal issues in construction projects, which often result in cost overruns, delays, and adverse working relationships among the contracting parties. Recent advances in natural language processing (NLP) techniques offer great potentials that can process voluminous unstructured data from legal documents to draw insightful information about the root causes of issues and prevention strategies. Several efforts have been undertaken in the last decades that used NLP to tackle a wide range of problems related to legal issues in construction such as the quality review of contracts and the identification of common patterns in legal cases. The research line on NLP-based techniques for analyzing legal texts of construction projects has progressed well recently; it, however, is still in the early stage. This paper aims to perform a critical review of recently published articles to analyze the achievements and limitations of the state of the art on NLP-based approaches to address common legal issues associated with legal documents arising across different project stages. The study also provides a roadmap for future research to expand the adoption of NLP for the processing of legal texts in construction.
Executive Summary
The article critically reviews recent advancements in natural language processing (NLP) techniques applied to legal and contractual matters in construction projects. It highlights the potential of NLP to process unstructured data from legal documents, identify root causes of disputes, and suggest prevention strategies. The study analyzes the achievements and limitations of current NLP-based approaches and provides a roadmap for future research to enhance the adoption of NLP in construction legal texts.
Key Points
- ▸ NLP techniques offer significant potential for addressing legal issues in construction projects.
- ▸ Recent research has made progress but is still in the early stages.
- ▸ The article provides a critical review of current NLP applications in construction legal texts.
- ▸ A roadmap for future research is proposed to expand the use of NLP in this field.
Merits
Comprehensive Review
The article provides a thorough and critical review of recent NLP applications in construction legal texts, highlighting both achievements and limitations.
Practical Insights
The study offers practical insights into how NLP can be used to improve the quality review of contracts and identify common patterns in legal cases.
Future Research Roadmap
The article proposes a clear roadmap for future research, which is valuable for academics and practitioners in the field.
Demerits
Early Stage of Research
The research on NLP-based techniques for construction legal texts is still in its early stages, which limits the depth and breadth of the current findings.
Limited Practical Implementation
While the potential is highlighted, there is a lack of detailed case studies or real-world implementations that demonstrate the practical effectiveness of NLP in this context.
Generalization of Findings
The article does not fully address the generalization of findings across different jurisdictions and legal systems, which could impact the applicability of the proposed NLP techniques.
Expert Commentary
The article provides a timely and insightful review of the current state of NLP applications in construction legal texts. The critical analysis of achievements and limitations is well-balanced and offers valuable perspectives for both academics and practitioners. The proposed roadmap for future research is particularly noteworthy, as it highlights the need for more comprehensive studies and real-world implementations. However, the article could benefit from a more detailed discussion on the generalization of findings across different legal systems and jurisdictions, as well as the ethical considerations surrounding data privacy and security. Overall, the study contributes significantly to the ongoing discourse on the integration of NLP in legal practice and sets a solid foundation for future research in this area.
Recommendations
- ✓ Conduct more detailed case studies and real-world implementations to demonstrate the practical effectiveness of NLP in construction legal texts.
- ✓ Explore the generalization of findings across different legal systems and jurisdictions to ensure the applicability of NLP techniques in diverse contexts.
- ✓ Address ethical considerations related to data privacy and security to ensure the responsible use of NLP in legal practice.