The OneNDA project, which aims to create a universal Non-Disclosure Agreement to cover confidential information, has published its Phase 1 draft document (see below).
The purpose of Phase 1 was to agree on and create the baseline document that is the oneNDA. This has been circulated to all oneNDA club members, but this is not yet ready for use until Phase 2 is complete – which will be in July. The members include several of the world’s largest law firms.
The NDA is truly universal and not just for the UK where the project is based. The team recognises that this NDA is primarily of use for the initial engagement between two parties, and it’s not meant to cover very bespoke NDA needs that one sometimes sees. I.e. this is to help get things started, and it’s not there to cover every possible scenario or commercial need.
Roisin Noonan, co-founder of the project, told Artificial Lawyer: ‘It’s been incredible to see the legal community pulling together to achieve a common goal and how, contrary to popular belief, lawyers are actually very agreeable when removed from the adversarial context we usually find ourselves in. Roll on Phase 2, and the next standardisation project after this!’
She added: ‘Phase 2 will be the operationalisation phase, where we’ll be agreeing with the community the parameters within which the oneNDA can be used to ensure we maintain its integrity and the trust people have in it. For example, if everyone amends it as they see fit, we’ll all be back at square one again with everyone having their own ‘flavour’ of the oneNDA, (which is not in the spirit of the initiative). Equally, if we’re too stringent about its use, people will be discouraged from adopting it.’
The output of Phase 2 will be the oneNDA House Rules and these are due the first week of July. From that point, the oneNDA will be live for use.
Please see the Phase 1 document below.
So, there you go. What do you think? And if you have some edits 🙂 , or comments, then please contact the OneNDA project.
This site will certainly be using the finished product once it’s ready. Congrats to the team and all those that have contributed to getting this far. The end result should help to reduce the time spent on this standard legal step and allow the real work to begin far more quickly.
this is a fantastic initiative