Tip 3: Legal Involves Other Departments 

Introduction

Previously, we shared valuable tips on how to structure legal’s responsibility of the contract process. Access it here if you haven’t read it: https://amstlegal.com/tip-2-legal-in-the-lead/. Continuing, we are moving on to tip 3. That concerns making sure that Legal involves other departments when drafting and rolling out / implementing templates.

Looking back, we have seen lengthy processes when working with large corporations. There, it would typically take 3-6 months before their client contract (a relatively straightforward Services Agreement) would be negotiated, agreed and signed. When working there, we were able to reduce the time spent on this to maximum 1-2 months. Keep reading to learn how you could do the same.

How to shorten the contract process

Three tips

We were able to bring this period down to a maximum of 1-2 months by:

1. sitting down with the business to discuss how the contract could be improved, not only from a legal point of view but from a business point of view;
2. amending the templates accordingly; and
3. strongly involving the business with the roll out/ implementation of the new templates.

This provided an overview of the contract process and having other departments that use the templates on board from the start.

Why should legal involve other departments?

I have seen this working in every company where I had the opportunity to use this strategy. It is therefore my strong belief that Legal absolutely must:

• consider the opinion of other departments of the company, and
• draft/amend the contract templates accordingly where necessary and possible.

This applies especially to commercial contracts and less for purely legal templates like NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) and DPAs (Data Privacy Agreements).

Alignment with the business – for example Sales, Products, Finance or Compliance – is essential to make sure that the templates do not only cover the legal risks, but also cover important business risks, practical issues and all products/services of the company. Another important reason to include these departments in the creation of the templates is to create a support base. The business will be a lot more engaged if they understand and agree with the template contract and if they have helped with the creation of it.

Conclusion

Incorporating insights from other departments when drafting and implementing legal templates can significantly shorten the contract process. By involving key teams such as Sales, Products, Finance, and Compliance, Legal can create templates that not only address legal risks but also align with business needs. Ensuring cross-departmental alignment leads to more effective contracts and greater support from the business. That makes the process more efficient and streamlined.

Stay tuned for our next article on tip 4. In the meantime, contact us at AMST Legal if you want to enhance your contract process through personalized expert help.