This is the time for legal to shine

In most organisations, legal departments have the chance to really change things up this decade. And we’re not talking about where they grab their morning coffees. New research shows there’s room for improvement when it comes to how legal teams handle documents and agreements.

The research has found that the legal department is often responsible for delays elsewhere in the business. The reason? 37% of all agreements managed by legal still include analogue processes. Printing, signing, scanning and emailing agreements takes time – causing frustration and even lost revenue.

Our new eBook for legal professionals, Inefficient Legal Processes, reveals why legal departments can be slow to adapt and may be reluctant to go digital. In part, it’s because the legal profession is built on age-old precedents. Then there’s the fact that legal documents like master agreements and complex contracts must be meticulously checked. It’s very time-consuming – and, with up to 72% of agreements needing the legal department’s sign-off, it can lead to a backlog.

One of the best ways to address the backlog is by automating the agreement process. Not only does this speed things up, but it’s great for interdepartmental collaboration: delays in finalising agreements can be frustrating for other departments. With the right document management system in place, all stakeholders are notified when their input is needed and bottlenecks in the process are quickly identified. The result? Smoother management of contracts across the organisation.

Going beyond eSignatures in legal circles

Many forward-looking companies use electronic signatures, but processes on either side of this can slow things down. Our eBook reveals that 46% of organisations have had to push back project start dates thanks to lags in the agreement lifecycle. Another serious issue is getting paid. 42% of organisations said sluggish contract management caused delays in recognising revenue.

To fix this, savvy businesses use digital contract lifecycle management (CLM) – which automates high-volume, low-complexity contracts like NDAs. This frees up time for the legal department, meaning they’re able to concentrate on more complex agreements that potentially deliver more value to the business.

Another benefit of digitisation is that it produces an auditable paper trail. Gone are the days of turning the shared drive upside down looking for that one document. CLM provides a permanent digital record of every stage of the agreement lifecycle, including forensic detail of each stage of the process and advanced reporting abilities.

Streamline your agreement management

Docusign CLM manages the entire contract lifecycle, with advanced workflows that automate manual tasks and complex processes. It means that legal teams can manage contracts seamlessly across desktop, mobile and partner applications, accelerating time-to-agreement and time-to-revenue.

Download the eBook now to learn more.