If you’ve ever stared at a contract labeled “FINAL_v8_EDITED_USE_THIS_ONE”, you already know: contract review is one of the gnarliest legal processes out there.
It's repetitive, confusing, painfully manual, and weirdly hard to fix. But with the right workflow automation tools, it doesn't have to be.
Why contract review is so gnarly
1. Endless versions, zero clarity
Legal gets pulled into the process late—or worse, repeatedly—to review contracts that have already gone through multiple unofficial edits. Tracking who changed what (and why) becomes a version control nightmare.
2. Inconsistent processes
Some contracts go through five rounds of legal. Others get signed without anyone looking at them. There's no standard routing, no shared playbook, and no clear criteria for what actually needs review.
3. Approval gridlock
Legal, finance, procurement, risk, compliance, IT—everyone wants to weigh in. But with no automation, approvals become a slow-motion relay race where no one knows who’s holding the baton.
4. Manual redlines & email overload
Redlines fly back and forth in Word docs via email threads titled "RE: FWD: Updated version (I think?)" and no one’s sure which version is the real one.
5. Last-minute fire drills
Because the process isn’t standardised, contracts show up in legal’s inbox at the eleventh hour. Suddenly, everything’s urgent—and delays are blamed on legal.
What workflow and process automation fixes
Enter platforms like Autologyx. Here’s how automation can un-gnarl the contract review process:
Intake and triage at the front door
Use smart forms to collect contracts based on type (e.g. NDA, MSA, SOW), urgency, and risk level. Automatically triage what needs legal review and what can be self-service.
Standardised templates and clause libraries
Automate the use of approved language and fallback positions. Reduce back-and-forth by letting business users generate first drafts from templates that already meet legal standards.
Automated routing and approvals
Set up rules that automatically route contracts to the right stakeholders. Legal only gets involved when they need to—based on contract type, value, jurisdiction, or risk.
Version control and real time collaboration
Stop the email ping-pong. Use centralised collaboration tools with live document tracking, commenting, and audit trails. Everyone works in the same version, at the same time.
Visibility from end to end
Dashboards show where every contract is in the process, who’s responsible, and what’s holding things up. Legal stops being the mystery black box.
The before and after
Before automation
- Sales sends a 12-page MSA at 4:58pm with no background.
- Legal redlines it, sends it back.
- Procurement edits a different version and sends that.
- Everyone’s confused.
- The deadline gets missed.
After automation
- Sales submits the contract through an intake portal.
- Autologyx triages it and sends it to legal with key details.
- Everyone collaborates on one version.
- Approvals happen in the background.
- Contract signed—on time.
What this means for legal teams
With automated contract workflows, you can:
- Respond faster and more consistently
- Reduce escalations and last-minute chaos
- Empower the business with self-serve tools
- Focus legal time where it matters most
- Finally fix the versioning headache