Anson Lai
Commercial counsel in Vancouver who got tired of the black-box economics of legal tech and started building his own. Ships “just-in-time” tools — the Gemini AI Word Add-in rivals startup offerings but runs on a bring-your-own-key architecture so data never hits a middleman server. Built reference.legal, an open-source clause library that lets lawyers draft by exception — hyperlink to the standard language, only write what’s different. His Gemini AI Word Add-in has crossed 2,500 downloads on the Microsoft Marketplace.
2 Projects
Gemini AI for Office
Microsoft Word Add-in that integrates Gemini AI directly into the editing environment with full Track Changes support. Bring-your-own-key architecture — documents route straight to Google’s API, never through a middleman. Handles edge cases like nested lists and table formatting where most AI tools fall short.
reference.legal
Open-source clause library that makes contracts shorter by letting lawyers incorporate standard language via hyperlinks instead of copying boilerplate. Draft by exception — only write what’s different from the standard. Version-lock clauses with date-stamped URLs so references don’t shift under you.
Featured In
- Law://WhatsNext — Vibe Coding a Doc Review Assistant with Anson Lai
Season 2 opener featuring a live demo of the Gemini Word Add-in — covering bring-your-own-key architecture, why edge cases like nested lists are the real moat, and how he built it in weeks while giving it away free.
Philosophy
“The best legal software is disposable”
Build tools for specific transactions or pain points, use them, move on. Long-term maintenance cycles are a tax on innovation — vibe code it, solve the problem, ship the next one.
“Bring your own key or don’t bother”
Most legal AI platforms are middlemen adding a markup to an API call. Route documents straight to the model provider — same enterprise-grade security, no extra attack surface, fraction of the cost.
“Contracts should be written by exception, not by repetition”
Hyperlink to the standard clause, only draft what’s different. If both sides are working from the same public library, review time drops and commercial intent stops getting buried in boilerplate.