February 21, 2019
3 steps for managing high-volume NDAs

3 steps for managing high-volume NDAs

The non-disclosure agreement (NDA) plays an essential role in important legal matters. Without NDAs, some of the world’s largest corporate transactions could be subject to substantial business and legal risk.

For large companies, a high volume of NDAs is a given—but also a challenge due to the drawbacks of traditional solutions for completing and managing the work. Although some companies tap internal resources to handle routine legal work, these individuals often lack the bandwidth. Time spent handling NDAs comes at a cost as time is taken away from higher impact work. In some cases, they may even lack the expertise required to effectively negotiate and manage these recurring agreements.

Other companies outsource routine legal work to traditional law firms. However, the work usually falls to generalist, junior staff, while the firm charges their costly standard rates.

What can companies do to effectively handle a high volume of NDAs in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible, while also yielding a high-quality output? To uncover an ideal NDA solution for their processes, companies should consider these three steps.

1. Outsource the work to an ALSP

Outsourcing to a third party is the most efficient way to handle the high volume of NDAs that most companies face. However, general counsels must take precautions and engage the right kind of third party. Alternative legal service providers (ALSPs) offering legal technology-enabled solutions serve as the ideal option for outsourcing recurring agreements because they can offer faster completion of NDAs at a substantially lower cost than traditional law firms—and with better end results.

2. Leverage specialization

When you’ve made the decision to turn to a legal process outsourcing partner, it’s not enough to simply find someone capable of taking over your NDA workload. Although NDAs are common agreements for corporate transactions, effective negotiation and management still requires specialized document and industry expertise. Your in-house legal team should select an ALSP that offers a solution that includes highly experienced attorneys who specialize in NDAs and understand your industry.

3. Evaluate and optimize the role of technology

The specialist ALSP you choose to engage for your NDA needs should include best-in-class technology as part of its solution. Cloud-based platforms offering document and workflow management features can drive substantial process efficiencies. In addition to providing efficiency benefits, contract data extraction technology allows valuable insights to be exacted from business and legal data in NDAs. For example, companies can identify trending terms across NDAs, helping them to approach future negotiations more effectively and better manage compliance obligations.

NDAs play an important role in corporate transaction processes. Without the right solution for handling them, companies are vulnerable to potential process inefficiencies, higher costs, and poor outcomes. ALSPs can offer solutions combining specialist-level resources with cutting-edge technology to handle NDAs without the pain points of traditional approaches.

Looking for a better way to handle your NDAs? InCloudCounsel combines some of the world’s best corporate attorneys with cloud-based document management and reporting software. We offer the best scalable, end-to-end solution for negotiating and managing routine legal work that helps companies streamline processes, free up resources, and achieve substantial cost savings.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can provide substantial value to your company.

Recommended for you:

5 types of contracts you should be outsourcing

Finally, A Legal Tech Solution That Automates High-Volume Legal Work Without Sacrificing Quality

What general counsels should consider when choosing an ALSP