Legaltech landscape: Difference between revisions

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{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: left;"
!Phase
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!Function
!Function
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!Glamour factor
!Glamour factor
!Iatrogenic factor
!Iatrogenic factor
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|''Phase of contract process''
|''Phase of contract process''
|''What is the innovation?''
|''What is the innovation?''
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|''How clever,  complicated or unique is this as a piece of technology?''
|''How clever,  complicated or unique is this as a piece of technology?''
|''How far might this tool inadvertently entrench current rent-seeking behaviour?''
|''How far might this tool inadvertently entrench current rent-seeking behaviour?''
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| rowspan="3" |Initiation
| rowspan="3" "3"  style="vertical-align: middle;"|'''Initiation'''
|Law firm bid management
|Law firm bid management
|An auction portal for seeking competitive bids on external legal advisory projects
|An auction portal for seeking competitive bids on external legal advisory projects
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|'''Low''': It’s eBay or Uber, isn’t it?
|'''Low''': It’s eBay or Uber, isn’t it?
|'''High''': Asks wrong question, namely: “how to I get the cheapest legal advice” rather than “how to I get the best advice or, for that matter, “do I need legal advice at all”.
|'''High''': Asks wrong question, namely: “how to I get the cheapest legal advice” rather than “how to I get the best advice or, for that matter, “do I need legal advice at all”.
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|Self-service portal
|Self-service portal
|A place where Sales can go to get pre-appoved legal forms to send out without vetting
|A place where Sales can go to get pre-appoved legal forms to send out without vetting
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|'''Low''': Hardly rocket science
|'''Low''': Hardly rocket science
|'''Low''': disintermediates unnecessary legal touch.
|'''Low''': disintermediates unnecessary legal touch.
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|Initiation and prioritisation tool
|Initiation and prioritisation tool
|A system for queueing prospects, getting necessary information and prioritising before starting negotiation
|A system for queueing prospects, getting necessary information and prioritising before starting negotiation
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|'''Low''': Doesn’t need much tech.
|'''Low''': Doesn’t need much tech.
|'''Low''': Disintermediates. Provides simple information inputs and disciplines personnel to follow process.
|'''Low''': Disintermediates. Provides simple information inputs and disciplines personnel to follow process.
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| rowspan="3" |Drafting
| rowspan="3"  style="vertical-align: middle;"|'''Drafting'''
|Template Management
|Template Management
|Centralised templates database or clause library for approving and warehousing approved forms and boilerplate
|Centralised templates database or clause library for approving and warehousing approved forms and boilerplate
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|Document Automation
|Document Automation
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|Freehand Document Assembly
|Freehand Document Assembly
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| rowspan="4" |Negotiation
| rowspan="4" "3"  style="vertical-align: middle;"|'''[[Negotiation]]'''
|Document mananagement system
|Document mananagement system
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|Automated contract review  
|Automated contract review  
|AI contract review and markup tools
|AI contract review and markup tools
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|Manual review assistance
|Manual review assistance
|Comparison, formatting tools,
|Comparison, formatting tools,
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|Negotiation platforms/portal
|Negotiation platforms/portal
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| rowspan="2" |Execution
| rowspan="2" "3"  style="vertical-align: middle;"|'''[[Execution]]'''
|Execution Approval
|Execution Approval
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|Digital execution
|Digital execution
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| rowspan="3" |Contract Management
| rowspan="3" "3"  style="vertical-align: middle;"|'''Contract Management'''
|Contract management
|Contract management
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|Metadata extraction
|Metadata extraction
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|Obligation management
|Obligation management
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| rowspan="2" |Tracking
| rowspan="2" "3"  style="vertical-align: middle;"|'''Tracking'''
|Onboarding process management
|Onboarding process management
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|Legal term benchmarking
|Legal term benchmarking
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Revision as of 15:31, 4 October 2021

Phase Function Description Management appreciation factor Implementation hassle Lawyer acceptance factor Glamour factor Iatrogenic factor
Phase of contract process What is the innovation? What does the bit of kit do? How excited will management be about this? How much of a pain in the fundament is getting the kit in, setting it up and getting it to work? Once implemented, how realistic is it that legal eagles will wholeheartedly embrace this tool? How clever, complicated or unique is this as a piece of technology? How far might this tool inadvertently entrench current rent-seeking behaviour?
Initiation Law firm bid management An auction portal for seeking competitive bids on external legal advisory projects High: delivers control, visibility, metrics and cost pressure on external counsel Medium: This all falls on legal operations though, so you may confidently assume it will be done. Low: While no work to implement for lawyers, it removes autonomy, power to choose counsel, is unpopular with outside counsel as any bidding system guarantees more losers than winners. Low: It’s eBay or Uber, isn’t it? High: Asks wrong question, namely: “how to I get the cheapest legal advice” rather than “how to I get the best advice or, for that matter, “do I need legal advice at all”.
Self-service portal A place where Sales can go to get pre-appoved legal forms to send out without vetting High: Speeds things up and pushes away low value work from Legal Low: Could be as easy as an intranet page or SharePoint. Legal operations as to do it. Medium: anything that pushes NDAs off the desk has to be a good thing. Low: Hardly rocket science Low: disintermediates unnecessary legal touch.
Initiation and prioritisation tool A system for queueing prospects, getting necessary information and prioritising before starting negotiation High: Good oversight of process, good MIS Medium: Helps initiate drafting provided it is used properly and information accurately provided Low: Doesn’t need much tech. Low: Disintermediates. Provides simple information inputs and disciplines personnel to follow process.
Drafting Template Management Centralised templates database or clause library for approving and warehousing approved forms and boilerplate Medium: Should drive efficiency, but part of that ineffable world of legal eagles that management doesn’t understand Low to Medium: Requires a bit of vision and there is quite a bit of faffing around configuring it, and them ownership and so on, but a useful tool once implemented.
Document Automation
Freehand Document Assembly
Negotiation Document mananagement system
Automated contract review AI contract review and markup tools
Manual review assistance Comparison, formatting tools,
Negotiation platforms/portal
Execution Execution Approval
Digital execution
Contract Management Contract management
Metadata extraction
Obligation management
Tracking Onboarding process management
Legal term benchmarking

With gratitude to Alex Hamilton for setting this out in his excellent book Sign Here, here is a functional breakdown of the contract tech landscape — as Alex points out, any of these functions are captured by more than one tool — itself a commercial problem for Vendors, becasue no-one likes to buy duplications: