Contract Management

Overview

“While our department made the choice to go with Legal Files due to the contract and matter management functionalities, the additional features such as the automated workflows and task routing will help to greatly streamline our operations.” – MGK Associate General Counsel Joseph P. Martyn

Legal Files for contract management is a complete, end-to-end solution that manages every phase of the contract lifecycle: contract creation, review, execution and renewal. And because Legal Files’ contract management software is extremely flexible and easily customized (even by the non-technical user), the system provides the ideal collaboration tool for multiple departments in your organization involved in the contract process:

• Legal
• Contracts
• Procurement
• Risk Management
• Vendor Management
• IT
• HR
• Sales/Marketing

Legal Files contract management offers simple, easy-to-navigate screens, including user-definable dashboards, “quick-fill” data fields and any number of contract templates to help:

• Streamline the entire contract process
• Reduce training and deployment times
• Maximize cost savings

Features

• Store any type of file (Word, Excel, PDF, images and other formats)
• Preserve document history with version control
• Securely author and review documents with Check-in/Lock-out capabilities
• Locate documents by user-defined profile criteria or the text of the document
• Easy search capabilities
• Portal views provide secure access to all related parties or reviewers
• Views and security rights can be restricted by role, or on a per-contract basis within your contract management system
• Anytime, anywhere access to your data
• Contracts, notes and action items can be routed to designated parties
• Store-save email communications (and attachments) to the contract file (Outlook, Lotus Notes, GroupWise or Google Mail)
• Synchronize action items to tasks and calendars in Outlook, Lotus Notes and GroupWise
• Available iOS app for iPad® and iPhone®
• Customize workflow templates for any type of contract
• Define workflows to track your unique business requirements
• Launch specific workflows at designated stages or steps in the contract process
• Assign tasks or events based on user-defined role or purpose (author, reviewer, level of approver, etc.)
• Send automatic email notifications for milestone dates to both internal and external contacts
• Choose recipients based on their user-defined roles
• Fully customize each email notification and create templates for email alerts
• Daily status report alerts
• Query contracts in various ways with flexible built-in reporting tools
• Utilize 90+ Standard Reports including 25+ Management Dashboard Reports
• Works with many third-party report writers, including Crystal Reports for custom reporting
• Maintain complete contract history for future reference or auditing purposes
• Provide an audit trail for compliance
• Generate reports on key compliance/non-compliance issues at any time

Benefits

Legal Software Benefits

Document Management

Store all types of files: Word, WordPerfect, Excel, PDF, scanned images and other formats. Preserve document history with version controls. Provide additional levels of security during authoring and the review process with document locking and Check-in/Lock-out capabilities. Locate documents by user-defined profile criteria. Search easily by keyword or phrase using full-text search capabilities.

Collaboration Tools

Portal views provide secure access to all related parties or reviewers. Views and security rights can be restricted by role, or on a per-contract basis within your contract management system. Accessible through your own network or via the Internet. Contracts, notes and action items can be routed to designated parties. Contracts and other documents can be emailed directly from the system using Outlook, Lotus Notes or GroupWise. All emails and documents – both sent and received – can be stored, tracked and retrieved. Legal Files also offers an app for the iPad® and iPhone® as an option.

Customized Workflows

Create any number of customized workflow templates for different types of contracts. Launch specific workflows at designated stages or steps in the contract process (contract creation, approval, signature, execution, termination or any status you define or select). Assign tasks or events based on user-defined role or purpose (author, reviewer, level of approver, etc.). Modify standard workflows to accommodate special situations or processes. Synchronize action items to tasks and calendars in Outlook, Lotus Notes or GroupWise.

Track Milestones

Use the Legal Files “Email Notification Service” to establish milestones and create ticklers for any number of key contract dates (reviews, renewals, payments due, rate escalations, expirations, etc.). Send automatic email notifications for milestone dates to both internal and external contacts. Create an unlimited number of alerts based on days before or after the designated date. Choose recipients based on their user-defined roles. Enter your own “boilerplate” text to be used as a template for each email alert. Receive a daily status report of all alerts sent.

Reporting

Query contracts in numerous ways with flexible reporting tools built into your Legal Files contract management system. Generate custom reports that fulfill your organization’s needs. Use reports to identify and address priority contracts and locate contracts associated with certain products, services or business segments. Works with many third-party report writers, including Crystal Reports.

Compliance

Maintain complete contract history for future reference or auditing purposes. Define workflows to track your unique business requirements. Provide an audit trail for compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley and other applicable regulations. Generate reports on key compliance/non-compliance issues at any time.

Implementation Services

Legal Files’ experienced team of developers, IT professionals, project managers and trainers will help make your contract management implementation a success by proving these vital services: Conversion of legacy contracts from any existing databases or contract repositories. Implementation services, including data mapping, project planning and installation assistance. Training for all levels of users, including management and staff, via onsite training and online courses.