Standardisation pioneer oneNDA, in partnership with SimpleDocs, has launched oneClick, a new system designed to speed up the deployment of its model NDA and remove organisational friction when contracting with it. Artificial Lawyer spoke to both companies about the project.
As Electra Japonas, co-founder of oneNDA, explained: ‘What we’ve heard again and again is that oneNDA is a great lift-off point – but adopters need more help in getting [the model document] into the hands of business teams and counter-parties.’
But, what does oneClick do? Here is a brief explainer, then we’ll hear from US-based Preston Clark, Co-founder of SimpleDocs.
What It Does
oneClick produces a shareable form that can be published internally or shared with counterparties externally as a public link. It will then ask a few questions including company name and signer information.
The counterparty will submit this information through the form, then be prompted to eSign the oneNDA template (preconfigured with your oneNDA Variables). Once signed, it will be routed back to you or your designee for final approval and signature.
There is also an integration with Docusign and Dropbox Sign so you can instantly integrate your own eSign account. There is an NDA Repository with advanced search capabilities for completed contracts. And, it also supports In-App Negotiations where counterparties can propose changes to your oneNDA Variables directly in the app.
So, there you go. oneNDA added that over 3,000 companies have now adopted the standardised template they offer.
SimpleDocs
As Preston Clark, co-founder of SimpleDocs and Law Insider explained: ‘There is something very obvious about standardising the NDA.’
After all no-one (well, very few people…) wants to spend a lot of time haggling over terms that have become so boilerplate they feel like the Ten Commandments.
It also made perfect sense that someone who had created SimpleDocs, which automates contracts, as well as Law Insider, which provides templates, would connect with oneNDA.
‘Electra and I talk a lot about NDAs. It’s the most used contract in world, it’s also already the most standard in any case. It’s also one of the few things that a lawyer will surrender on. They also don’t want to have to draft NDAs.’
In short, all the stars were aligned on this one. So, why do this now?
‘Adoption levels of oneNDA keep rising. But, we wanted to provide more help to adopters and make it highly accessible,’ he added.
Or, one might put it this way: oneNDA worked with many of the world’s leading lawyers to build a great standard model for NDAs in the commercial world, but what it perhaps didn’t have was all the software wrapping and pipework to make it zip between all the parties that might want to use it. And that is where Clark came in.
As Clark noted, NDAs need to be shuffled around between multiple parties, not just the legal teams. There are business teams, sales teams, and of course the counter-parties want the oneNDA process to work easily for them too.
He added that although oneNDA is well-known now, on a total global scale, and considering the millions of companies out there that a user might potentially engage with, it wasn’t always known and so making it easier to use overcame such obstacles. Moreover, a major bank that used oneNDA in London might have offices all over the planet.
Removing friction and making sure ‘it was easily distributed’ was essential for growth.
Or, to paraphrase William Gibson: ‘OneNDA is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.’
The interplay between the sales teams of corporates and their legal teams was also important here. ‘The starting point for an NDA is not always lawyers,’ Clark said. ‘[It could be the sales team] and they want to move fast. Then, the legal team can have a lot of anxiety about pushing software into sales. This decreases the anxiety.’
He added that for now at least there is no AI and this is a self-contained product. Moreover, the key terms don’t change, so summarising doesn’t really offer you many advantages. Plus, the whole idea is that you don’t re-draft each clause.
The next project is to do the same with an M&A version of the NDA, which has some specific terms that are needed for such deals. And then, the overall goal is to grow and grow and grow, because the more people that use it, the more the standardisation aspect can deliver value.
In conclusion, this is a great project, as has been the case with the oneNDA programme from day one. What’s happening now is a logical extension of the original idea, adding tech to the template to speed and grow its use.