As we discussed in part one, templated contracts can be a great resource, saving companies both time and money, when used in a coordinated and thoughtful way – i.e., drafted by an attorney with knowledge of your organization and industry, consistently rolled out to appropriate stakeholders, regularly reviewed for relevancy and compliance, and updated as needed. To ensure such use, I recommend creating a “template playbook” to help manage the use of contract templates throughout an organization.

There’s a good chance your company uses contract templates in support of its day-to-day commercial legal needs. In fact, most companies will templatize common, recurring agreements as a time- and cost-saving practice. However, this practice has its limitations. First and foremost, not all contracts can be converted into templates. Moreover, without the right coordination and oversight, the use of templated forms can expose a company to a number of unforeseen consequences. In this 2-part series, we will explore the basic advantages and considerations when developing contract templates, and then discuss best practices for building an effective template library.