Best Practices for Legal Teams
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