It seems in-house counsel and legal departments are constantly being asked to do more with less – less time, less budget and sometimes less headcount. One way to tackle the never-ending mountain of work is to figure out what repetitive tasks the legal department can reduce or eliminate by providing tools for the business. Often, one of those legal department tasks is contract review. AI should be able to support this, right? Well, depending on the nature of the business, finding an off-the-shelf technology that is going to do effective and risk-appropriate contract review for you is (at least currently) likely not going to be affordable or easy to implement unless the volume is significant.
Contract playbooks, which are practical guides outlining preferred contract language, secondary positions and escalation points for frequently reviewed contracts, can alleviate legal department workload. Having a playbook allows both legal and business teams to negotiate more effectively and consistently, improving efficiency (and, as a bonus, keeping your lawyers engaged by allowing them to focus on more diverse and interesting work!).
Why contract playbooks matter
Whether you’re supporting a technology startup or managing a mature legal function, contract playbooks deliver some big benefits:
Increased consistency
Playbooks ensure that contract terms reflect the organization’s risk tolerance and legal standards across departments.
Faster turnaround
By streamlining standard positions, legal teams can dramatically reduce review cycles – particularly for high-volume agreements such as NDAs, SaaS contracts and vendor MSAs.
Empowered business teams
Playbooks help legal departments safely delegate low-risk negotiations to non-legal business colleagues by giving them guardrails and guidance.
Improved risk management
Clear fallback positions and escalation thresholds ensure that legal remains involved when a deviation from policy poses material risk.
Getting started
Contract playbooks don’t need to be lengthy or overly formal to be effective. In fact, the most successful ones are lean, actionable and easy to use.
Here’s how to get started:
- Select a high-impact contract type
Begin with a frequently used agreement – depending on the industry, this can be anything from NDAs, leases or service contracts.
- Identify commonly negotiated clauses
Focus on five to ten key provisions where negotiation patterns recur (e.g. indemnity, liability caps, termination, governing law).
- Define positions and rationale
For each clause, outline:
- Preferred position and language
- Acceptable fallback options
- Unacceptable terms
- Business and legal rationale
- Risk decision-maker (i.e. who to talk to if the term falls outside of the acceptable position)
- Include negotiation tips
Add context to help your team understand why certain positions are important, when flexibility is acceptable and when to escalate to legal.
Contract playbooks aren’t just a process improvement tool – they’re a strategic asset. They help legal teams scale their impact, manage legal risk and enable the business teams to achieve their desired results faster and with confidence. Taking the time to create one will save you time and energy and allow your legal team to scale their impact by tackling other issues.
Note: This article is of a general nature only and is not exhaustive of all possible legal rights or remedies. In addition, laws may change over time and should be interpreted only in the context of particular circumstances such that these materials are not intended to be relied upon or taken as legal advice or opinion. Readers should consult a legal professional for specific advice in any particular situation.
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