It’s 4:45 pm on a Wednesday and your last project has wrapped up. You find yourself dreaming maybe I can leave at a ‘normal person’ time so you start packing up to head home and one of the Partners sticks their head into your office and tells you a new deal just came in and the diligence needs to be done by Monday - can you run it? So much for that dream.
So, where do you start?
You get access to the virtual data room and there are a lot of documents. What is the most efficient way to determine who you need on the team and who should review which documents? This may seem like an oversimplification, but as a Product Manager of a contract review software, I have talked to dozens of lawyers who have all experienced a similar situation.
When you start using AI as part of your review process, there are some very helpful ways to more efficiently manage your project and uncover potential risks in the documents.
Here are 5 strategies to help you more efficiently find risks and potential red flags early in the review and better manage your project with AI:
1. Set clear expectations with an informed snapshot
Use the initial results from the AI to gauge the state of the project and ensure the proper client expectations are set. If the initial results from the AI surface document types, you weren’t expecting or other languages you may need to have a conversation with your partner and ultimately the client about the scope of the project and the timeline for the review. Using AI to provide better visibility internally helps you manage expectations externally. It is easiest to do this by setting up a clear framework of what you are tracking at the start and making sure your team and Partner(s) all know where to look.
2. Project management is key
Break your project down by document type and language from the offset so that you can assemble the proper team and assign documents accordingly.
3. Start at a higher document level
Begin by looking at documents that are missing clauses you would expect to see. For example, if some of the IP agreements do not have an assignment clause then they may be a good place to start your review.
4. Follow with a deeper dive into the clause level
Break down the clauses that you are reviewing into more granular categories such as if a Change of Control requires consent, notice, has a termination right or requires a termination payment in order to visualize how many documents could be an issue.
5. Keep track and stay agile to potential changes
Keep track of your project overall to see at a high level what has been assigned and reviewed and what is still left. You may even want to look at in more detail segmenting it by document type, language, or another category in order to pinpoint where you may be falling behind and what deserves your focus. Using AI and its project visualization capabilities is the best way to stay on top of the state of your project and address any issues that may arise.
Kira’s new Dashboard feature allows you to keep track of your projects and conduct due diligence smarter, not harder.