Home 6. Best Practices Best Practices for Legal Teams

Best Practices for Legal Teams

Last updated on Dec 07, 2025

Maximise efficiency and get the most value from Alingo.

Building Your Document Library

Start smart:

  • Upload your top 50-100 most referenced contracts

  • Include templates and best-negotiated agreements

  • Organise with consistent naming: ClientName_Type_Date.pdf

  • Tag systematically from day one

Maintain quality:

  • Upload final executed versions (not drafts)

  • Use PDF for non-editable documents

  • Add descriptions to key documents

  • Review and archive quarterly

Creating Effective Playbooks

Building playbooks:

  1. Start with 3-5 of your best contracts

  2. Use AI document analysis to extract clauses

  3. Review and validate every extracted clause

  4. Add fallbacks for 3-5 most-negotiated clauses

  5. Document "not acceptable" terms clearly

  6. Write guidance notes for business users

Organizing clauses:

  • Follow typical contract structure

  • Use consistent tagging (by topic, risk level)

  • Group related clauses

  • Include 10-20 core clauses minimum

Testing: Have business users test playbooks before full rollout

Enabling Self-Service

Set up guardrails:

  • Define clear financial thresholds

  • Block truly unacceptable terms

  • Use "flag" for review items, not everything

  • Start conservative, loosen over time

Empower business teams:

  • Train on playbook usage

  • Clarify escalation triggers

  • Provide examples of acceptable variations

  • Make it easier to comply than bypass

Target: 70% of routine contracts handled by business, 30% require legal review

Using AI Assistant Effectively

For research:

  • Enable document search for your Vault

  • Ask specific questions with context

  • Always verify cited sources

  • Use web search for current developments

For drafting:

  • Use templates for standard documents

  • Include playbooks for consistent language

  • Treat as first draft, not final

  • Always have legal review

Collaboration

Within legal team:

  • Share playbooks for consistency

  • Comment on tickets for visibility

  • Use tags to organise work

  • Regular playbook reviews

With business teams:

  • Create clear escalation paths

  • Respond to tickets promptly (24-48 hour SLA)

  • Educate on self-service capabilities

  • Gather feedback on guardrails

Metrics to Track

Efficiency:

  • Time saved on routine contracts

  • Ticket volume trends

  • Self-service success rate

  • Response time to requests

Quality:

  • Playbook usage rates

  • Guardrail trigger frequency

  • Override rates

  • Contract consistency

Review quarterly: Adjust playbooks, guardrails, and processes based on data

Related: Playbooks guide | Guardrails guide | AI Assistant guide