14 Contract Management Processes That Are Shameful by AXDRAFT
H
abits are very powerful. It takes 21 days to form one, and a lifetime to get rid of it. Habits can help us maintain strong mental health, lead us towards becoming successful lawyers, and live a healthy, happy life. Or else, they can make you really miserable without you even realizing it. There are still things lawyers do with contracts that honestly should not be done anymore. Just like there are good habits, there are ones that can be frowned upon, and even call for an intervention. No, no. We’re not talking about a passion for junk food, or binge watching ‘Suits’ in search of a solution for your current case. In 2021, when humans and machines work together on making this world a better place for lawyers, and the role of AI in legal is unquestionable, there are still things lawyers do with contracts that honestly should not be done in 2021. Below is a list of contract management processes that might have worked before, but are not as cool and effective anymore:
Store contracts in file
cabinets, across offices, states, and countries The first one is a big hit. Do the math with us: • One four-drawer file cabinet costs $25K to fill in with contracts, and about $2K to maintain annually • A standard Amazon cloud storage package costs $0.026/Gigabyte/month. That’s $0.026/month for storing 10,000 document pages. No matter how secure and comfortable cloud solutions get, legal is sticking to a millenia-old tradition of storing manuscripts in a dry cool place, away from direct sunlight and children.
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Attorney Journals Orange County | Volume 190, 2022
Document drafting based
on old templates from legal, or new ones from the internet “The template worked 5 years ago, and it will work today” says a lawyer that neglected to check compliance with new legislation. The main point of always updating your templates is not only to save time drafting a new contract, but to give your company an advantage before contract negotiations start. Companies may change directions in terms of strategy, even change a legal address or payment details. The contract template must stay in-line with all the changes, or you may risk bringing it down with one bad contract. Remember: it is much easier to draft a fresh template then mitigate the risks caused by a contract that ‘worked 5 years ago’.
Fly around to get a contract signed
Don’t you love flying on airplanes? You get to meet people, push your way through to the client’s big boss, and fly back home. All for the sake of an autograph on a contract. Exactly what a lawyer should do instead of focusing on company strategy and advising the board. While some companies send lawyers on business trips via first class to get a contract signed, others discovered that it is much easier to invite their partner into contract management software to eSign it. Good news for lawyers that don’t like flying.
Negotiate contracts via email A pigeon would have been a safer way to not lose a contract or mix up the redlines and versions. A faster way as well, to be honest, if your email falls into the Spam or Promotions
