Self-service contracts are used primarily by companies managing 20,000 to 50,000 documents concurrently, including sales, product, service, consulting, benefits, lease, licensing, and non-disclosure agreements. Companies use self-service contracts to manage procurement, hiring, provider relations, and more. Across applications, self-service contracts enable faster contracting with a “one-click” approval process; however, expediency too often increases the risk and frequency of errors.

Improving Business with Self-Service Contracts

In traditional self-service contracting, users answer a series of questions to determine if a self-service contract is applicable. Users typically manage the process via mobile devices to execute fully digitized contracts from any place, anytime. 

If applicable, self-service contracts are then assembled using pre-configured clause libraries and pre-approved templates. Electronic signatures allow for immediate finalization and execution of contract terms, as long as established conditions are met. 

Meanwhile, non-compliant, incomplete, or non-standard requests automatically are escalated to the appropriate personnel. High-level legal personnel no longer need to dedicate time to routine contract review. Instead, legal teams can focus their efforts on more complex and higher-priority tasks. 

Although self-service contracts improve legal department efficiency, challenges persist. Removing attorney oversight has led to significant errors, particularly when contracts are complex or subject to change year-over-year. Fortunately, recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have enabled corporate legal departments to take advantage of self-service contracts while simultaneously ensuring that all agreements comply with the company’s preferred contract language and provisions.

How Artificial Intelligence Takes Self-Service Contracts to the Next Level

LexCheck’s AI contract negotiation platform goes beyond simple, static templates to perform the work of an experienced contract reviewer. Here’s how:

• LexCheck trains the AI on a company’s standard legal playbook and a couple of dozen contracts uploaded to the platform.
• The user then uploads a new agreement to the system for redlining and review.
• The AI compares the agreement to past contracts and the legal playbook, assessing the agreement for compliance. Advanced natural language processing allows the platform to analyze the agreement for risk, vague language, and outlying provisions.
• The AI can automatically accept a change, reject a revision (and provide an explanation), or modify the redline with attorney-recommended edits or pre-approved fallback provisions.
• The AI automatically changes and improves sections that stray out of alignment, contain erroneous information, or fall under the category of “pre-approved changes.” Additionally, attorneys can establish rules to determine contract modifications, fallback language, or changes to the scope of an agreement.
• The platform automatically emails reviewed agreements with full redlining, risk assessment, and contextual suggestions. Contracts containing significant issues are automatically re-routed for escalation. 
• The AI completes its comprehensive contract redlining and review in less than five minutes (not days or even weeks that a legal team may have required), allowing corporate legal departments to review and negotiate contracts at scale without sacrificing quality. 

AI has outpaced the traditional self-service model of contract automation. With fully automated contract review and negotiation capabilities, LexCheck allows legal departments to experience the benefits of self-service contracts while mitigating risk by ensuring adherence to company standards. Companies that review and negotiate a large volume of negotiated contracts can experience a dramatic increase in cost-efficiency and productivity when they implement an AI-powered contact solution.