How AI and CLM software creates a powerful tool for Summize’s legal team

We explore how our own legal team use Summize on a daily basis. We ask the team questions about their contract processes pre-Summize and how the CLM now transforms their work.

Company

Summize

Location

UK and US

Industry

Contract lifecycle management

Size

Key Outcomes

AI redlining saves significant time

AI cuts 70-80% of the workload by providing a solid base text to then refine and embellish

Reporting on key insights to showcase legal's impact

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Objective

How did Summize’s legal team carry out contracting processes before they joined Summize? We asked just this to our legal colleagues to understand how their previous workload and understanding of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) solutions changed once they became part of Summize.

Before joining our global CLM business, many of Summize’s legal team worked as in-house legal professionals for a range of organisations. In these roles, the team described how they encountered many challenges.

One of the main challenges echoed by the team was the pace and pressure of their workload. In-house legal professionals frequently face pressure to quickly turn around contracts while maintaining a high standard of accuracy and compliance. Combined with multiple requests from different departments, it can be difficult to juggle and prioritise all contracting tasks.

Members of Summize’s legal team detailed how this was a common issue. A lot of responsibility falls on legal teams, from making sure they don’t miss obligations, to ensuring they accurately review complex contract clauses in a short space of time.

We asked our legal team if they were aware of a better way of working. Before joining Summize not all of them had knowledge of CLM software and the holistic opportunities and benefits it creates for the entire business.

Imagine that you are a large business that turns around 20-30 agreements a week and then you're trying to manage all of that in one go, it quickly becomes a massive challenge for teams to face.

Tom Dunlop

Founder and CEO

I can go to our CEO and say “every contract that came in this month, I reviewed it and turned it back around to the stakeholder in under 24 hours”, that makes me look great and equally provides confidence in the business that legal are doing their job properly and to the best of their ability, so I think that's really powerful!

Thomas Pratt

Legal Counsel

The Solution

After joining Summize and understanding the impact of CLM software, not just for the Legal Team but the whole business, our legal professionals knew they could eradicate their previous contract frustrations and find a more productive way of working.

When asking the team which CLM features are most effective, they stated three key areas:

The team highlighted the impact of Summize’s self-serve approach for their non-legal colleagues. Our Sales Team have the power to create contracts in under two minutes utilising our Outlook and HubSpot integrations. What does this mean for the Legal Team? Consistent processes, use of approved templates and a reduction in their workload.
The second feature which was a firm favourite among the Legal Team was the CLM’s analytics. Summize’s analytics enables the legal team to measure their performance and show the positive value they create for the business.
But the most important feature for our Legal Team is Summize’s AI functionality. AI is used on a regular basis, including generating base language for clauses, redlining contracts and reporting across Summize’s customer base using automatic data extraction.

The impacts go beyond just these three functionalities. The Legal Team stated how all Summize’s functionality is built to support a collaborative approach to contracting, making workflows not just simpler but also more effective for internal business relationships.

Outcome

First experiencing Summize’s CLM software and now using it on a daily basis, has transformed how our legal professionals work.

By leveraging Summize, the team significantly accelerates contract turnaround times which helps to improve contract collaboration across the business.

Collaboration is vital as to how Summize operates. Unlike previous legal roles where legal were often perceived as a bottleneck, our legal team is integral to Summize’s efficiency and success. Using contract insights, collaborative and self-serve workflows and the power of our AI assistance, our legal team function as a productive and strategic part of the company.

The same can be said for all businesses who welcome CLM software into their organisation.

CLM software, when adopted and used by the whole business, creates a more productive environment. The technology equips more than just the legal team, but sales, HR, finance and procurement, with the tools to streamline their contract workflows and an opportunity to use contracts as strategic assets for growth.

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There's much more collaboration and more visibility. Both parties have a lot more control from start to finish, which again is important because that all impacts the speed at which we get the requests processed. It just ties everything together a lot more smoothly.

Jamie Travis

Account Executive