Why Manual Contract Redlining Can Be Challenging

Historically, redlining involved marking up physical documents, making edits visible as the document changed hands. While digital platforms like email and SharePoint have replaced paper, the process often remains largely manual, making it difficult to fully adhere to best practices.

Here’s a look at the primary challenges that teams face:

• Tracking Changes and Version Control

  With multiple revisions, it’s easy to lose track of who made which changes. Without centralized version control, essential modifications can slip through unnoticed, leading to miscommunication and errors that may compromise the agreement.

• Extended Timelines for Approval

  Each redlined version must pass through various stakeholders, which can delay even simple agreements like NDAs. Manually notifying relevant stakeholders is challenging, and without a streamlined process, updates may be missed, prolonging the contract cycle.

• Misalignment with Preferred Language and Terms

  Using contract language that doesn’t align with your company’s standard terms can increase risk, especially if the initial draft comes from the counterparty. Manually adjusting terms is labor-intensive and prone to inconsistencies.

• Limited Access to Standardized Clauses

  Without an accessible clause library, teams may create multiple variations of the same clause, resulting in discrepancies. This lack of standardization can lead to contract versions that don’t align with company policies or legal requirements.

• Lack of Redline Explanations

  Explanations for redlines are often missing, making it challenging to interpret changes later. Important insights generated during redlining can be hard to capture and reuse, which could impact playbooks or clause libraries for future negotiations.