Category: Contract Lifecycle Management

Checklist: Importance of Contract Lifecycle Management

Posted on September 8, 2020 by - Business Process Management, Contract Lifecycle Management

Sometimes, a company is so accustomed to a process that people don’t realize how manual it actually is.

This is especially the case for contract management.

Many corporations rely on manual processes to handle contracts, leaning on paper, spreadsheets and email. While it lets you work in programs you use every day, it also means you’re cutting and pasting information into templates, entering data, writing and sending emails, searching for documents and saving items to multiple drives.

The process is a nuisance, yes. But it also invites risks, such inconsistent legal language, a lack of insight into content and status and an inability to anticipate and accommodate renewal data, pricing changes and emerging legal requirements. (We break down more challenges regarding manual contract management in this blog post if you’d like to read more about them.)

What’s the new evolution of contract management?

A contract lifecycle management solution.

It allows companies to capture, automate and analyze the entire contract lifecycle from initiation through approval, compliance and renewals. It eliminates data silos, automates workflows and reduces the overall time spent. Studies have shown that businesses with a streamlined contract lifecycle management process can compress their time to revenue, mitigate risks and increase customer satisfaction. In short, a contract lifecycle management solution contributes value.

Contract Lifecycle Management Solutions Checklist: How to Vet a CLM Solution

How can you pick the best solution? Start with this checklist to ensure that the solutions you’re vetting offer you the features that work best with your corporate legal department.

  • Collaboration – A secure collaborative capability facilitates editing and communication among team members.
  • Client and partner self-service – Highly intuitive, streamlined portals give authorized individuals access to commonly used contract templates and verbiage.
  • Easy-to-access requests – These allow anyone within the corporation to initiate the contract process. They don’t have to set up an account.
  • A central repository – A single source for all contracts and associated documentation means no more searching for information.
  • E-sign capabilities – Timely signatures are vital to the contract process. Users should be able to sign contracts electronically and manage them within the contract lifecycle management software. It should integrate with tier-one e-signature solutions. Upon completion, the solution should automatically store the contract in the central repository with all of the expected notifications without any additional intervention.
  • Routing and approval – The technology should enable the easy building of configurable workflows to route contracts for review and/or approval.
  • Human-centric user interfaces – The system should be intuitive and lightweight, requiring little to no training.
  • Microsoft Word integration – Word is used extensively in creating contracts. An integration with Word captures changes and notes as they occur to contracts, speeding up the entire process.
  • Notifications – Proactive alerts such as notifications or reminders should be sent by the technology as the contract progresses through its lifecycle.
  • Enterprise contract management – The software should manage sell-side, buy-side and corporate contracts.

Are you interested in learning more? Download this white paper: “What to Expect from a Contract Lifecycle Management Solution.” You can also read more about Onit Contract Lifecycle Management or request a demo.

How to Calculate ROI for Contract Lifecycle Management Solutions

Posted on August 27, 2020 by - Business Process Management, Contract Lifecycle Management

In the last two issues in this series, we explored contract lifecycle management challenges and how to choose the right solution for your organization. In this blog post, we will discuss how to calculate savings metrics for a solution and highlight a company that has won multiple awards for their contract lifecycle management transformation.

ROI for Contract Lifecycle Management Solutions

Contract lifecycle management (CLM) solutions drive efficiencies and savings in many areas of the business – so much so that experts say the right solution will compress time to revenue, mitigate risks by having fewer contractual exceptions and increase customer satisfaction.

However, the question on everyone’s mind is this: What’s the return on investment?

To accurately assess the potential for contract lifecycle management ROI, we developed the Onit Savings Calculator. The calculator factors in time spent on contracts, missed renewals, obligation management needs, sales cycles and realization, rogue spending and expanding spend under contract.

For example, consider a company with more than $850 million a year in legal spend. The calculator determined that the company could save almost $6 million in the first year after deployment and close to $12 million by the third year of use.

Overall, we find that companies have an average cost savings of 9% and a 20% reduction in hours spent on contract review with a contract lifecycle management solution.

The numbers are generally the biggest persuader in whether or not your organization should invest in a contract lifecycle management solution. The savings calculator can help you build the business case and determine which cost-saving or revenue-generating projects to prioritize.

Our industry experts will help you pinpoint your CLM ROI. Visit here to request your evaluation.

An Award-Winning Success Story 

Pearson, a global learning company and an Onit customer, created a new way of delivering legal services. This initiative so transformed the company’s contract processes that it landed them multiple recognitions including:

Pearson, along with Onit partner Morae Global Corporation, developed, implemented and operated an innovative, highly efficient Transaction Service Center as an extension of Pearson’s legal team in support of the company’s businesses worldwide. This included the creation of playbooks, templates, workflows and standardized processes from intake on through drafting, redlining, negotiating, execution and post-execution support, as well as leading training and change management processes.

Morae partnered with Onit to deploy the Onit Apptitude platform that included a web-based “legal front door” for incoming service requests and a contract lifecycle management system for end-to-end processing of contracts. With Onit’s technology, Pearson gained a platform to drive automation, greater standardization, ease of access to information and increased process transparency.

The result: Pearson launched an innovative shared service center that supported commercial transactions worldwide for more than 10,000 users. Its ROI for contract lifecycle management included a 35% cost reduction and 30% improved contract turnaround time.

Bob Mignanelli, senior vice president, chief operating officer, legal, and associate general counsel for technology, strategy and operations for Pearson plc, discusses the project in this on-demand webinar.

Next Steps

We have information to help you through every stage of considering a contract lifecycle management solution.

To start, visit the previous two blog posts in this series on contract lifecycle management:

Next, download our white paper that outlines what to look for in a solution:

Hear what other customers have achieved with Onit contract lifecycle management solutions:

Finally, contact us to:

8 Crucial Items for Your Employment ReviewAI Checklist

Posted on August 26, 2020 by - Artificial Intelligence, Contract Lifecycle Management

Starting employment with a new company is often one of the most exciting moments in one’s career, but it’s not something that should be rushed into. One of the most important parts of this process is a careful contract review of the employment agreement, so you know where you stand from a legal perspective before any employment offer is agreed to.

A well-drafted employment agreement contract will clearly spell out the expectations of the company for the employee, and what the company owes the prospective employee to minimize any future disagreements.

Here are the top 8 things to look for when redlining an employment contract, particularly for the hiring of high-level executive or specialist positions:

  1. Compensation: A base salary is one part of the total compensation package. You also need to know if and when base salary increases occur, if bonuses are available and if there is a signing bonus. You’ll also want it to be clear in your contract review if your base salary can be reduced, and under what circumstances this can happen.
  2. Scope of Employment: In addition to the employee’s title and responsibilities, a good employment contract template should cover to what extent an employee’s responsibilities will expand or contract. For example including clearly defined terms for promotion, demotion and even potential relocation. For C-level executive hires, it should also outline if a seat on the Board of Directors is guaranteed or even allowed.
  3. Benefits: The amount of the benefits programs, and to what extent an employee can participate in them, should be clearly and definitively outlined in any employment contract template. This includes health and disability benefits, life insurance, 401(k) and stock options, vision and dental. This section of the employment contract should also outline vacation and sick leave policies, including how much can be accrued in a year or carried over. Lastly, the contract template should clearly define if any benefits are taxable to the employee, and if the employee can be reimbursed for the tax.
  4. Restraints: Look out for any restraints or limitations on your ability to engage in activities outside of the job.  These can be agreements to not compete, not solicit staff and clients or engage in other commitments either during or after the employment. Particularly look out for restraints of trades that limit what work you can do after the termination of your employment.  You don’t want to unduly impact your ability to earn a living or find another job after this one.
  5. Intellectual Property: Intellectual Property (IP) such as trade secrets, marketing strategies and business systems can be extremely valuable. Standard employment contracts usually include clauses saying any IP an employee develops during their employment is owned by the company, including whether it was created on the job, in the office, or outside their normal work hours using the company’s resources or information.
  6. Confidentiality: Employees are often trusted with access to different kinds of commercially sensitive information. Under an employment relationship, there is usually an implied relationship of trust and confidence. However, it is always best practice to clarify the obligations of an employee using a confidentiality agreement, also known as an NDA agreement, in relation to accessing, using, protecting, and disclosing the commercially sensitive information of the Business.
  7. Term, Termination and Post-employment Agreements: The employment contract needs to clearly define if the employment is for a contracted term of time or if it is “at will” employment. It also needs to define the grounds on which an employee can be fired (due to job performance, for example) or terminated “for cause,” such as for a felony conviction or breach of the employee agreement. The contract should also specify any severance packages (including so-called “Golden Parachutes”) and the conditions on which they can be given following employment.
  8. Dispute Resolution: Most employee agreements have clauses to deal with disputes between the employee and company, such as if binding arbitration is the exclusive way to deal with disputes, and what the applicable laws are to oversee such disputes.

Carefully reviewing your employment agreement before sending or signing can avoid misunderstandings that can cause disagreements or even legal action between the company and employee. Oftentimes, an experienced employment law expert will be consulted on high-profile contract negotiations. However, a great way to understand your rights and obligations is to supplement a human lawyer’s expertise with legal technology.

ReviewAI automates standard contract checks with legal template reviews, including employment agreements, saving you a significant amount of time during the contract management process. Each month we release new contract template reviews and skillsets built by subject matter experts that are specific to different industries and contract types (including employment agreements), ensuring a smooth contract review process and better employer-employee relations.

To learn more about contract automation and ReviewAI, visit here.

5 Tactics for Reading Legal Contracts

Posted on August 21, 2020 by - Artificial Intelligence, Business Process Management, Contract Lifecycle Management

A contract is a collection of legally enforceable promises between two or more parties. Contracts can be full of “legalese” terminology, the rough size of a short story and intimidating to review. No matter how scary reviewing a contract can be, it is important to always understand what exactly you’re agreeing to.

Here are 5 tips you can use to learn how to read a contract:

  1. Examine the Contract

Reading a legal contract is as much about learning as understanding. There will be language that you understand at a first glance, and items that you want clarified further. Use the headings in the contract to understand the theme of the section, and the rights and responsibilities that fall under it.

As you read the contract, ask yourself if you know what each sentence means, and how it might affect you. You want to consider what happens when things go wrong.

  1. Understand What to Expect

Contracts usually start by stating parties and context — the “who” and “what.” For example, employment agreements will say that the employer will pay the employee for services.

A definitions section usually follows. This section spells out the defined meanings of words for the purpose of the contract, such as what “Effective Date” means. Definitions like “Default Event” might say something like “any event set out in section X.”

Another common contract feature is cross referencing: when one section or legal clause references another (sometimes on a completely different page of the agreement). This can make contracts hard to read, going back and forth or yo-yo-ing the scroll bar to read one section in the context of another.

  1. Make Notes

Take note of anything you aren’t sure about so you can look it up later or seek legal advice. It helps to print out a contract and use a pen or highlighter on it like you are studying for an exam. It’s a good idea to write notes or jot down questions in the white space of a contract to remember where you came across that issue.

  1. Google Some Legal Terms

Legal terms and jargon can make contracts feel impossible to understand; however, these terms can be easily googled. There are plenty of legal dictionaries available online. Some words, like “default,” mean something different in a legal context. Try googling “default meaning legal” or “default meaning contract” to get the legal definition of these words. It’s important to have a concrete understanding of what you’re agreeing to.

  1. Ask Questions

Once you are comfortable with the meanings of words and clauses, read the contract again and note any further questions or concerns you have. In particular, ask the other party whether there are any implied terms, and ask for clarification on any broad or ambiguous terms. It is important that the contract clearly state the parties’ intentions.

Bonus: Use a Legal AI Tool

Use our AI-powered contract management software, ReivewAI, to boost your confidence when reviewing your contract. Click on the defined terms or cross references in your agreement to pull out their meaning in the side bar of Word — allowing you to read your contract alongside the extra details. This helps you understand the contract better and alleviates eye strain!

How to Select a Contract Lifecycle Management Solution

Posted on August 20, 2020 by - Business Process Management, Contract Lifecycle Management

In the first entry in our series detailing the value of contract lifecycle management solutions, we shared signs that indicate you need a new approach to the contracting process. In this blog post, we will discuss the items your company should consider when deploying the ideal solution for its needs. 

Businesses that implement a seamless contract lifecycle management process compress their time to revenue, mitigate risks by having fewer contractual exceptions and increase customer satisfaction. While the opportunities are plentiful, the path to finding the right solution for your company can be challenging.

With the numerous contract lifecycle management solutions available, how do you determine which one is the best fit?

First, adopt a platform approach. A platform approach combines a set of software and a surrounding ecosystem of resources. Its value comes not only from its own features but also from its limitless ability to connect external tools, teams, data and processes. It offers growth that comes from a highly scalable, seamlessly deployed and continuously updated technology.

One more platform benefit to consider: Timeliness of implementation. Instead of taking months and months, you can employ a quick-start implementation package that streamlines the contract process so you’re using it in less than 30 days.

Second, the most effective solutions make critical tasks easier and more accessible with automation. With this approach, a contract can be requested via an online portal that gives access to standard verbiage and templates. Automation within the system ensures the appropriate people and processes are assigned and notified of the request. It also allows the easy building of configurable workflows, so you know you can change workflows as needed as a company grows.

Third, the solution must provide the ability to sign electronically. This eliminates the need for paper and enables anytime, anywhere signatures. When the contract is signed, it is automatically stored in a central repository that is the single source for all contracts and related documents.

To view more suggested features for a contract lifecycle management solution, download our white paper here.

Final additions

As contract lifecycle management solutions grow in prominence, the discussion has shifted from whether adoption is necessary to the best solution to adopt. If you want to learn more about Onit and these solutions, feel free to read our whitepaper “What to Expect from a Contract Lifecycle Management Solution” or contact us directly.

Five Signs Your Company Needs a New Way to Manage Contracts

Posted on August 13, 2020 by - Business Process Management, Contract Lifecycle Management

Contract lifecycle management solutions have seen wide adoption over the last five years, so much so that they’ve developed a market capacity worth more than a billion dollars. By 2024, the global market for contract lifecycle management software is estimated to increase to $2.9 billion*.

Why is there such a substantial increase?

Contract lifecycle management solutions offer a significant return on investment. They allow companies to capture, automate and analyze the entire contract lifecycle from initiation through approval, compliance and renewals. By eliminating data silos, automating workflows and reducing the overall time spent, a contract lifecycle management solution drives business value.

In this first of three blog posts, we dissect our latest whitepaper and look at what to expect from a contract lifecycle management solution. The posts will discuss everything from signs that you need one to how to select the right solution for your business.

If you’re the type of person who likes to skip to the front of the line, you don’t have to wait. You can download the entire whitepaper here. For everyone else, let’s begin.

Is it Time to Change How you Handle Contracts? Consider these Indicators.

Contract lifecycle management poses significant challenges, especially when you consider that the process for most companies extends across multiple departments, geographies, versions and external participants. Complex processes that are handled manually can lead to risks and too much time spent on low-yield tasks like following up or locating a contract version. The cumulative impact of these factors can cost your organization an immense amount of time and money.

Here are five signs that your company should explore a new approach.

  1. Inability to Make Changes

How does your company manage changes over the entire lifespan of a contract, from the first draft through renewals? Are the processes and technologies involved flexible enough to anticipate and accommodate renewal data, pricing changes and emerging legal requirements?

  1. Information Silos and Manual Processes

A business can impair contract management progress if it lacks a centralized, accessible location for contract information that tracks changes in real-time. Human error, bottlenecked contract cycles and limited process control – typical in many corporations when it comes to contract management – increase risk dramatically.

  1. Inconsistent Legal Language

Contracts depend on approved and consistent language. Gaps in standardized language introduce risk and confusion. If your contracts consistently have language consistency issues, it may open the door to unexpected risks.

  1. Struggles between Timeliness and Risk

Lawyers, who work to reduce risks, prefer to review contracts in detail. Sales professionals, who have the job of closing deals, have an interest in getting contracts through quickly. If your company is experiencing friction like this, it likely needs a better approach to contract lifecycle management.

  1. Lack of Insight into Contract Processes and Variables

When corporate legal doesn’t have insight into contract terms, obligations and value, it cannot ensure the business is getting the right value for deals, and money may be lost.

The Benefits of Contract Lifecycle Management Solutions

A contract lifecycle management solution – a combination of software and services – gives businesses unparalleled visibility into and control of their contract portfolio without sacrificing speed or time. It illuminates the journey of individual contracts from the initial request to managing obligations. It also applies technology and business best practices to the process to such as financial reporting, operational efficiency and overall contract compliance.

Ready for more information? Our next blog post of this series, coming out next week, will cover how to choose a solution. Until then, here are ways to explore these solutions and how they will impact your company:

 

* Markets and Markets: Contract Management Software Market by Component, 2019

3 Things to Consider When Signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement

Posted on August 11, 2020 by - Artificial Intelligence, Business Process Management, Contract Lifecycle Management

Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) establish a confidential relationship between parties who share sensitive information. A well-drafted NDA can protect sensitive information from being shared with others without your consent. Without NDAs, any information shared can be taken advantage of or publicly disclosed.

Following are some tips when creating and/or signing an NDA to ensure that you protect your best interests:

Q: What is the Scope of Confidentiality?

Make sure the purpose of the agreement is clearly understood and defined. Consider what the permitted use of information is and how long you are expected to keep it secret. Otherwise, the other party could use your information for their own benefit, or you could be expected to keep the information private for years, etc.

Q: What is the Definition of Confidentiality?

It is important to specify the kinds of information you want to protect or exclude from protection under this agreement and make sure to include that in your definition of confidentiality. If you don’t get specific, your discussions may not be legally protected or you may risk accidentally breaching the agreement.

Q: What Happens if There is a Breach of the Agreement?

Pay attention to the consequences of breaching the agreement and avoid any extreme penalties, such as liquidated damages or indemnities. Otherwise you may be facing an expensive legal bill.

Being informed empowers you to make smarter legal decisions now and in the future.

Review your next NDA agreement with ReviewAI. Try out the Confidentiality Skillset to find core issues quickly when protecting your confidential information, and further your understanding and obligations of confidentiality.

 

The NDA FAQ: Ask These 6 Questions Before Signing that Nondisclosure Agreement

Posted on July 31, 2020 by - Artificial Intelligence, Contract Lifecycle Management

If you work in an office environment, chances are you’ve signed or sent a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) — perhaps without reading through all of the terms and conditions. On both sides of the equation, the importance of a well-written NDA is often overlooked. A poorly written agreement can lead to some gnarly (yet very avoidable) headaches, such as accidentally waiving your rights to sue for intellectual property infringement, costly indemnities or information leaks.

Before you pick up that pen, ask these questions about the important legal clauses in an NDA to understand your obligations of confidentiality and save yourself and/or your company future trouble.

Q: What is an NDA?

It’s important to first examine what a non-disclosure agreement is and is not. NDAs are used to protect sensitive information from being shared with others and to build trust between parties who have sensitive discussions. Without NDAs, any information shared can be taken advantage of or publicly disclosed, resulting in good ideas being stolen.

Q: What is the Purpose of the Agreement?

When you sign an NDA, you agree to share information for only a specific, stated purpose. This purpose needs to be thoroughly and clearly provided in the confidentiality agreement so that either party can easily identify incorrect usage of the information, if necessary, down the road. If the purpose(s) provided is vague, it can become a lot harder to prove or disprove that a party broke the terms of the NDA.

Q: What Information Falls under the Definition of Confidentiality?

NDAs are all about protecting confidential information, so it will be important for you and the other party to understand what kinds of information you both consider to be “confidential” and what information is excluded. State the type of information you want to protect or exclude from protection under this agreement (i.e., financial information, specific sets of data, unique processes, etc.) and include in your definition of confidentiality.

Q: What are the Remedies for Breach of Confidentiality?

The damage caused by breaching the agreement can vary by the kind of information involved and how serious the breach is. Equitable remedies — special legal help from a court — focus on preventing irreparable harm caused by the breach. It is important to state the kinds of equitable remedies you want to be able to access in case things go wrong, including specific performance, injunction and restitution.

Q: What is the Duration of Confidentiality?

Keeping a secret can be hard; keeping a secret for a long time can be even harder! This clause sets out the length of time you have to keep information confidential. It is important to know how long you need to protect information under this agreement so that you can set up business practices appropriately.

Q: What Happens When Confidential Discussions End?

What will you do with confidential information once discussions are over and the agreement has ended? What do you want the other person to do with your information? It is generally good practice to include in the agreement the obligation to return or destroy confidential information. The less information you hang onto, the less likely you are to accidentally disclose the information!

Being informed about the various legal clauses in an NDA empowers you to make smarter legal decisions now and in the future.

To learn about artificial intelligence helps you quickly draft, review, redline and edit all types of contract, visit here.

Pearson PLC, Onit and Morae Shortlisted for the 2020 Legal Innovation Awards

Posted on July 21, 2020 by - Company News and Events, Contract Lifecycle Management

Congratulations are in order for Pearson PLC, who has won recognition for its innovative work in legal operations. The company has landed on the shortlist of the Legal Innovation Awards 2020 in the category of “Future of Legal Services Innovation – In-House Legal Operations.”

Pearson PLC, a global learning company, created a transformational shared service center to support commercial transactions worldwide for more than 10,000 users. Powered by an integrated solution from Onit and its partner Morae, Pearson achieved a 30 percent improved contract turnaround time.

The nomination, which also names Onit and Morae, illustrates the unlimited potential for innovation when corporate legal departments team with trusted technology partners. Pearson selected Morae to assist in developing, implementing and operating an innovative, highly-efficient Transaction Service Center as an extension of Pearson’s legal team in support of the company’s businesses worldwide. Onit provided the contract lifecycle management technology and Apptitude platform to drive automation, greater standardization, ease of access to information, and increased process transparency.

 This is the second time the company has been recognized for its transformative initiative. The Association of Corporate Counsel named Pearson a 2020 ACC Value Champion earlier this year. The prestigious prize showcases innovative law departments that embrace creative, data-driven solutions to streamline operations.

About the 2020 Legal Innovation Awards

The 2020 Legal Innovation Awards, hosted by Law.com International UK, Legal Week, celebrates the outstanding achievements of law firms, chambers, in-house legal departments and alternative business structures. The winners will be announced in a virtual awards ceremony on Oct. 2 at 5 p.m. BST. You can register for virtual attendance here and tweeting is encouraged during the proceedings with the hashtag #legalinnovationawards.

Hear about the Innovative Project from Pearson, Morae and Onit  

Robert Mignanelli, SVP, Associate General Counsel, Global Product/Technology at Pearson plc, sat down to discuss this award-winning initiative in this on-demand webinar. Mignanelli is joined by Joy Saphla, President, Morae Legal of Morae Global Corporation and Matt DenOuden, VP, Global Sales of Onit to share details about the journey to move from a highly bespoke legal services model into a more standardized and streamlined way of delivering support to the business.

Once more, congratulations to Pearson!

5 Areas of Law and Contract Management Becoming More Relevant in the Age of COVID-19

Posted on July 17, 2020 by - Artificial Intelligence, Contract Lifecycle Management

No matter what industry you’re in, there’s no doubt that COVID-19 is changing both the way work gets done and how workers spend their time in the legal sphere — especially in the contract management arena. The pandemic has impacted the global economy, our healthcare systems, insurance claims, the prevalence of remote work and more.

Lawyers are busier than ever in this “new normal;” however, the kinds of legal contract reviews they are conducting are shifting.

Here are five practice areas that are becoming even more relevant in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

Bankruptcy/Restructuring

Recent headlines have been filled with news of Chapter 11 bankruptcies, including J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus, J. Crew, 24 Hour Fitness and many more. According to Epiq Systems Inc., Chapter 11 business bankruptcy filings increased 26% in the first half of this year, and U.S. courts recorded a total of 3,604 business filings for Chapter 11 protection, an unfortunate side effect of the pandemic. Lawyers are doing more work with debtors, creditors, equity interest holders and other entities that may be interested in a business (such as a prospective acquirer) that is confronting financial difficulties.

Health Law  

This varied area of legal practice encompasses a range of transactional and regulatory matters, including mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures for healthcare entities. Other work may include litigation concerning healthcare clients, enforcing governmental health and FDA regulations, conducting internal investigations and assisting with technology transactions, IP and data privacy. Digital health practices are constantly changing, and lawyers are keeping pace with the many legal changes that accompany the technological advances and regulatory updates the healthcare industry is experiencing during this pandemic and beyond.

Insurance

While the safety of employees and customers is on the forefront of company’s minds, mitigating financial losses that have come with COVID-19 so that they can continue to operate is another huge priority. Risk managers, in-house counsel and internal crisis management teams continue to pore over their insurance policies (i.e., first-party property insurance, cancellation insurance, etc.) to determine whether there is existing coverage to offset losses and liabilities. Legal teams are pulled into the mix when litigation is needed to resolve a dispute over coverage terms.

Employment

Lawyers in the employment arena represent companies or individuals in labor and employment disputes, draft policies and procedures, advise on union issues including unfair labor practice and discrimination charges, review employment and separation contracts, etc. Legal topics that are coming up more than ever before as the world grapples with coronavirus include issues of confidentiality, disability-related inquiries, health coverage, paid sick leave, reduction in force and more.

Privacy and Data Security  

This certainly isn’t a new area of law; the 2018 introduction of the GDPR in the European Union has affected the way companies do business globally. As both private companies and governments explore different ways to combat and prevent the spread of COVID-19, data collection and analysis of health and location information have become key tools. However, there is a balance that must be maintained between personal privacy rights and public well-being, a prime subject of newly proposed federal privacy legislation. While this legislation is being drafted, companies are taking steps to ensure that they are minimizing the collection of employee data to only what is reasonably necessary as well as utilize cybersecurity solutions to protect their employee and client data

Artificial Intelligence and Contract Management

As the M&A work, insurance disputes, employee settlements, new privacy policies, etc., pile up on lawyers’ desks, there is more pressure than ever before to be efficient and mitigate risk to the company.

That’s why more legal teams are using contract management solutions powered by legal AI to get their work done, including ReviewAI, our contract management tool.

ReviewAI is a Microsoft Word Add-in that enables lawyers to be 51.5% more productive. This contract management system provides more consistency in the contract review process by alerting the user when language and legal clauses don’t match corporate standards. Users can also leverage any of our immediately available contract review templates created by subject matter experts in areas such as employment, dispute settlement, confidentiality, data privacy and more. Learn how ReviewAI can transform your contract management lifecycle here.