The oneNDA project needs little introduction, but in case you are not on Linkedin, here is a recap and our tips on using the oneNDA including:
🚀 Enabling clients to self-serve the oneNDA effectively;
📊 Capturing the data you need to show value; and
✍️ Streamlining electronic signature!
The oneNDA is a galant attempt to streamline the messy world of NDAs into a simplified standard form document. The oneNDA provides a much needed pre-agreed template, signed without the need to review or negotiate tried and tested mutual nda provisions, to cut down the legal time spent on commercial discussions. Tabled is here to support lawyers looking to find efficiencies for their clients, and we are proud to be one of the oneNDA Founding Club! It is now great to see oneNDA come to fruition and we want to do everything we can to help move towards efficient legal standards – so if you want to think about ways to use the oneNDA read on!
The initiative was founded by Electra Japonas and Roisin Noonan of The Law Boutique, who have applied their expertise in legal design to make the oneNDA as simple to use as possible. They have pulled together a drafting committee comprising City law firms, including Linklaters, Slaughter and May and Norton Rose, alongside inhouse legal teams from the likes of Adidas, Deliveroo, Airbus, Bupa and Secret Escapes. So if you choose to adopt the oneNDA you will be in good company. Also kudos to the organisers for distributing the oneNDA for use under a Creative Commons Attribution, No-Derivatives licence – so it is free, as in beer! 🍺
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Showing the value of the oneNDA with Data
The lovely people at oneNDA have thought of everything, including a user guide here https://onenda.org/user-guide to provide tips to help you get the most value out of the oneNDA. This guide stresses the need to use data to demonstrate efficiencies gained from using the oneNDA. Start by understanding your benchmark data including your current volume of NDAs, the cost and time taken to process the NDAs. Then compare that benchmark data to the gains made under the oneNDA.
This is a great approach in theory, but where do you get that data in practice?! The Tabled platform is custom built for lawyers to allow their clients to self-serve template documents and then track the time it takes to complete workflows like completing an NDA with KPIs. You can also capture the data you need about each NDA when it is requested, such as the client name or business area or contract value, bringing together valuable business data that previously sat on people’s desktops, or in desk draws!
oneNDA client self-service
oneNDA is provided in pdf format, with sections that can be filled in by either lawyers or clients. With this format, it is easy for inhouse lawyers to empower their business colleagues to self-serve the oneNDA, filling in the required details before sending it out and not getting the lawyers involved – saving everyone time! With the simple sections to complete there is not even a need to configure sometimes expensive and time-consuming document automation tools to help your internal clients fill in the fields as the document is clearly labelled so anyone can fill it in. While there might be a place for more complex document automation, the oneNDA offers an easy and cheap win for client self-service!
It is certainly possible to send the oneNDA pdf to your business teams to save and use when they need an NDA. This approach of free for all templates has some drawbacks that concern many of the legal teams we work with:
Visibility and Data
The legal team will have little or no idea of when the oneNDA is being used, or who it has been signed with. Simply leaving the business to get on with it will also not capture the data you need to show the value of the oneNDA!
Version Control
Templates constantly change, and the oneNDA is also at v1 stage and is likely to be updated. Putting templates in the wild means you won’t be sure which version is being used by the business.
High Risk Situations
There are likely to be situations where the oneNDA is not suited such as strategic deals, critical IP sharing or M&A (as the oneNDA team acknowledge) and your business colleagues may inadvertently use the oneNDA in these situations when the business needs a stronger document or a one way NDA.
That is why Tabled includes a simple template self-service feature from your legal front door, to enable the legal team to give access to the oneNDA and other templates to your clients in a controlled way, giving you visibility over usage, managing version control in your template repository on Tabled and avoiding use in higher risk situations.
With the pdf format of the oneNDA it is simple to capture signatures electronically saving paper and time! You may be happy to simply plug the oneNDA into a pdf reader and use the signature tool to drop in a signature or prefer to capture electronic signatures using Docusign or Adobe Sign ,which is integrated with Tabled, before keeping the signed documents in a repository, ensuring you are always on top of which NDA has been signed with who and when those NDAs expire. Check out the silent video below!
The oneNDA is the first step towards making an often repeated nda process far more efficient. The document and use will evolve and this could be a really interesting journey of standardising legal processes if enough of us get involved!
Head over to the oneNDA website to download the document and sign up as an adopter!