Resources for general counsel and in-house lawyers

Do this week

For two weeks, write down every request that reaches you: what it was, who asked, and whether it needed legal judgement. Many find that a large share did not. That list is your plan for templates and self-service.

Do this week

Pick the three clauses you negotiate most. For each, write one line for what you ask, one for what you accept if pushed, and one for where you walk away. That is a usable first playbook, and it takes an hour.

Do this week

Keep a one-page brief for every client: what they sell, which entities sign, who decides, what they worry about and the next three deadlines. Five minutes with it before a client day replaces half an hour of remembering.

Do this week

Start with the contracts that renew automatically. List each one with its end date and notice period, and put the notice date, not the end date, in a calendar that someone other than you can also see.

Do this week

Before choosing any tool, pick one repetitive task you do every week, such as first-pass NDA review, and write down how you judge a good result. Test every tool on that task with your own documents.

Do this week

Measure one thing before changing anything: the median time from a contract request to a contract ready to sign, per contract type. It is the number the business feels, and the easiest way to show that a change worked.