Legal document management provider NetDocuments has introduced Smart Answers, a new capability designed to help lawyers access and apply their firm’s institutional knowledge using generative AI.
The feature enables legal professionals to ask complex questions in natural language and receive conversational responses grounded in their firm’s own documents and matter history, complete with citations. By connecting AI directly to a firm’s internal repository, Smart Answers allows lawyers to quickly locate relevant precedents, research past work, and draft documents more efficiently without manually searching through files.
“Any legal professional can open a public LLM and ask a question. But the answer they receive is the same answer every other firm gets,” said Dan Hauck, Chief Product Officer at NetDocuments. “Smart Answers changes that equation by securely connecting AI directly to a firm’s own documents, matter history, and institutional knowledge.”
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The new functionality is embedded directly within the NetDocuments platform, allowing firms to activate it without adopting a new system or introducing additional tools for users. Smart Answers will begin rolling out to ndMAX Enterprise customers on March 31, 2026.
Alongside the launch, NetDocuments also announced expanded connectivity with leading AI models and tools. Through Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration, AI applications and agents can securely access NetDocuments content to orchestrate workflows across systems while maintaining existing governance, ethical walls, and audit controls.
The expanded integrations include compatibility with AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Claude, as well as Claude CoWork and its recently introduced legal plugin. These capabilities allow firms to use AI tools directly with their internal document repositories without requiring file downloads or custom integrations.
NetDocuments has been steadily expanding the AI capabilities embedded in its platform, which already includes tools for auto-profiling documents, NDA analysis, contract risk analysis, and judge analytics.
The company says demand for these capabilities is growing rapidly. In 2025, more than 800 law firms worldwide began using NetDocuments’ AI features, with over 40 percent of new customers choosing AI-enabled functionality at the time of purchase.
The launch comes as law firms continue modernizing their technology stacks to support AI-driven workflows while maintaining strict data governance and client confidentiality.