TechnicalWhitepaper
A Framework for Adversarial-Secure Deal Optimization using Secure Multi-Party Computation
Built By Lawyers, For Lawyers
Glass Box AI. Your Knowledge. Your Control.
Privacy-first contract intelligence platform
HectoVault addresses the four barriers preventing lawyers from adopting AI
Confidentiality
Commercial contracts contain pricing strategies, liability positions, and negotiation tactics that cannot be exposed to third parties. Cloud-based AI requires uploading sensitive documents to external servers.
Offline-first deployment. The platform runs entirely on customer infrastructure. Contract data is never transmitted externally. No training on customer documents.
Hallucinations
Generic LLMs fabricate case citations, invent statutes, and present false information with confidence. A lawyer cannot cite a source that does not exist.
Glass box transparency. Every source verified against authoritative databases (EUR-Lex, Riigi Teataja, national court systems). Unverifiable claims explicitly flagged.
Data Protection
Legal departments handle personal data subject to GDPR with audit requirements, breach notification obligations, and potential regulatory penalties.
ISO 27001 and GDPR compliance built in. Data processing agreements available. Audit logging for all operations. No subprocessors for contract data.
Professional Control
AI systems that render verdicts undermine professional judgment. Lawyers need to evaluate options and consider client-specific factors.
Dialogue-driven interaction. The system asks clarifying questions, presents options with reasoning, and defers to professional judgment.
Core Platform Capabilities
Custom Playbook Engine
Define your review standards - liability caps, required clauses, escalation triggers. Enforce them consistently across all contracts.
- Threshold rules
- Required clauses
- Escalation triggers
- Context-aware analysis
Glass Box Transparency
Every claim linked to verified sources with step-by-step reasoning shown and explicit confidence levels for each assessment.
- Source attribution
- Reasoning chain
- Verification status
- [VERIFIED] markers
Secure Knowledge Base
RAG analysis using your internal documents - prior deals, templates, internal guidance, and negotiation history.
- Prior deals
- Templates
- Internal guidance
- OneDrive/SharePoint integration
Verified Legal Sources
Country-by-country authoritative database connections for legislation, case law, and public registries.
- Estonia & EU live
- DE, UK, US planned
- Official gazettes
- Court databases
Platform Overview
Enterprise-grade contract intelligence without compromise
Target Users
Corporate counsel managing contract volume with limited headcount
Attorneys requiring AI assistance that meets professional standards
SMBs and procurement teams with optional HectoVault-provided template libraries
Optional Modules
Multi-Party Computation (MPC)
Privacy-preserving deal optimization for consortium procurement, competitive bidding, and capacity sharing across competitors
Max 20 participants • BGW/GMW protocols • 100-1000x overhead • Minutes to hours latency
Equity Management
Cap table tracking for fundraising and M&A - ownership tracking, share classes, vesting schedules, option pools
Investor reporting • Dilution modeling • Integration with contract analysis for investment documents
Abstract
HectoVault is a glass box contract intelligence platform built by legal professionals who understand why lawyers hesitate to adopt AI. Unlike black box systems that obscure their reasoning, HectoVault shows every step of its analysis, every source it consults, and every rule it applies. The platform addresses four barriers to AI adoption in legal practice: confidentiality concerns through offline-first deployment with no external data transmission; hallucination risk through verified sourcing from authoritative legal databases; data protection through ISO 27001 and GDPR compliance; and loss of professional control through dialogue-driven interaction where AI offers options rather than making judgment calls.
1. Introduction: Why Lawyers Hesitate
Legal professionals understand the potential of AI-assisted contract review. Counterparties using these tools can identify unfavorable terms, benchmark against market standards, and generate optimized counteroffers faster than traditional review. The competitive pressure is real.
Yet adoption has stalled. This is not technophobia. Lawyers are trained to be cautious about tools they cannot verify, sources they cannot cite, and processes they cannot explain to clients. Generic AI contract tools fail on all three counts.
The Trustworthy Source Hierarchy
A fundamental insight drives HectoVault's architecture: AI systems that depend on undifferentiated 'internet search' cannot be trusted for legal work. HectoVault implements a strict source hierarchy:
- Customer Knowledge Base: Your templates, prior deals, internal guidance, approved positions
- Verified Legal Databases: Official gazettes, court databases, regulatory sources
- Public Registries: Company registries, land registries, securities filings
- Controlled Web Access: Only when explicitly enabled by user, with source tracking
2. Core Platform
2.1 Glass Box Transparency
Glass box is not a marketing term - it is a design principle that pervades every aspect of HectoVault's operation. Unlike black box AI that produces outputs without explanation, glass box AI shows its work.
- Source Attribution: Every claim linked to specific source documents
- Reasoning Chain: Step-by-step explanation of how conclusions were reached
- Rule Application: Which playbook rules triggered, and why
- Confidence Levels: Explicit indication of certainty for each assessment
- Verification Status: Clear marking of verified vs. unverified information
2.2 Dialogue-Driven Interaction
HectoVault does not render verdicts. It engages in structured dialogue that keeps legal professionals in control. The system asks clarifying questions, presents options with reasoning, and defers to professional judgment.
2.3 Custom Playbook Engine
Legal teams maintain review standards that define acceptable terms, required clauses, and escalation triggers. HectoVault enforces these standards consistently.
2.4 Knowledge Base Integration
The knowledge base provides institutional context that transforms AI from generic assistant to informed colleague. All indexing and retrieval occurs locally - document content is never transmitted externally.
3. Jurisdictional Legal Infrastructure
HectoVault builds verified connections to authoritative legal sources on a country-by-country basis. This is not generic web search - it is curated access to the sources that matter for legal work.
Three-Pillar Architecture
1. Legislation
Official gazette databases (Riigi Teataja, EUR-Lex), consolidated statute texts with amendment tracking
2. Case Law
National court decision databases, CJEU and ECHR jurisprudence, citation verification
3. Public Registries
Commercial registries, land registries, securities filings, insolvency registers
Current Coverage
- • Riigi Teataja (legislation)
- • Riigikohus (Supreme Court)
- • e-Business Register
- • EUR-Lex (EU law)
- • CJEU / ECHR cases
- • BRIS, EUIPO registries
Planned: Germany, UK, US jurisdictional modules
4. Security and Compliance
Offline-First Design
- No cloud dependencies: All processing occurs locally
- No telemetry: No usage data transmitted
- No training: Customer data never used for model training
- No retention: Work product not saved for external purposes
- Air-gap compatible: Deployable in fully isolated environments
Compliance Certifications
Information security management
Full compliance, DPA available
5. Deployment Options
Docker Container
docker run -v /data:/app/data -p 8080:8080 hectovault/contract-intel
Requirements: Docker 20.10+, 16GB RAM, 50GB storage
On-Premise Server
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, RHEL 8+, Windows Server 2019+. Automated provisioning scripts. High-availability configuration available.
Air-Gapped Installation
Complete offline package. USB/secure media transfer. Manual update with integrity verification.
6. Conclusion
HectoVault is built by lawyers who understand why lawyers hesitate to adopt AI. The platform addresses four specific barriers: confidentiality through offline-first deployment, hallucinations through glass box transparency and verified sourcing, data protection through ISO 27001 and GDPR compliance, and loss of control through dialogue-driven interaction.
For legal teams that need AI assistance without compromising on trust, methodology, or data sovereignty, HectoVault provides a path forward.
References
[1] Ben-Or, M., Goldwasser, S., Wigderson, A. "Completeness Theorems for Non-Cryptographic Fault-Tolerant Distributed Computation." STOC, 1988.
[2] Goldreich, O., Micali, S., Wigderson, A. "How to Play any Mental Game." STOC, 1987.
[3] Bogetoft, P., et al. "Secure Multiparty Computation Goes Live." Financial Cryptography, 2009.
[4] Lewis, P., et al. "Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Knowledge-Intensive NLP Tasks." NeurIPS, 2020.
v4.2 • 13 pages • December 2025 • Complete Technical Documentation