IT Governance Business Case
Faster Legal Contract Reviews through Automation
City Attorney's Office
Background
The City Attorney's Office (CAO) reviews, redlines and approves business contracts for all departments. This work represents much of the CAO's workload and is managed by all of the CAO staff in some capacity.
Currently:
- CAO provides Microsoft Word contract templates with inline instructions
- Departments draft their own contracts
- CAO provides legal review and vendor negotiation
- Departments execute and maintain final contracts
The CAO is currently implementing LawVu Workspace Matters to better manage their legal matters, including contracts.
Current Business Problem
Current contract review timelines are causing delays in departmental operations and vendor agreements. These delays increase administrative burden across departments and reduce overall organizational agility in a resource-constrained environment.
Current Pain Points
• First drafts contain many basic errors, requiring extensive corrections
• Template instructions are not consistently followed
• Legal entity names often incorrect, risking contract validity
• Lack of legally sufficient details can require multiple rounds of review/comments
• Frustration from departmental staff in drafting process
Future State Benefits
• First drafts with minimal errors, for much faster turnaround times
• Template instructions enforced through built-in guardrails
• Legal entity names automatically validated
• Single round of review due to complete first draft
• Better user experience for departmental staff
Strategic Alignment
Analysis and Recommended Solution
Analysis
Recommended Solution: implement LawVu Draft & LawVu Essentials
Description
Implement LawVu Draft to improve first draft quality, and LawVu Essentials to streamline attorney review & negotiation
Pros
• Faster contract finalization
• Less corrections for attorneys to make
• Streamlined negotiations
Cons
• N/A
TS Architecture Review
The recommended solution meets the architectural standards for the City of Durham.
Cybersecurity Review
The recommended solution meets the cybersecurity standards for the City of Durham.
Recommended Solution - Project Financial Estimate
Risk Identification
Mitigation Risk (Costs)
• N/A
Contingency Risk (Costs)
• N/A
Our ask
We are asking the IT Governance Steering Committee to approve and score the business case to implement LawVu Draft & LawVu Essentials to improve CAO's legal contract review. If approved, the business case will be scored, ranked and submitted to the City Manager for final approval.