Scrolling back through versions in the sidebar doesn’t always surface the information you’d like it to, and trying to piece together the order of resolved comments is equally difficult. I still don’t understand the version history 🤔Īll the negotiation data from the redlining process is technically captured by the Google doc process - but it’s pretty difficult to access. This isn’t something lawyers are too keen on. Google docs are live - typos, or early comments that are quickly rethought and discarded, can be seen in real time by the other party. Legal teams don’t particularly like the idea that the other party might see them making changes in real time. The limitations of Google docs for redliningĪlthough Google docs certainly offers a step up from Word, in terms of collaboration, the format isn’t widely used to get contract redlines agreed, for various reasons. For the sake of clarity, it’s easier to use commenting to make changes to contracts. Your counterparty could also just change copy directly, rather than making comments - however this is a little harder to track, and runs into some of the same problems as redlining in Word. If in doubt, check out this handy video explainer from Crafty Counsel, which works through a redlining process on a term sheet using Google docs functionality. You can collaborate on the document in real time with other parties, and if you hit the zig-zag arrow …īy working through any changes, deletions or additions to the document this way, you can use Google docs’ collaborative UI to reach agreement on your contract redlines and move forward to signature. It doesn’t need to be saved locally for edits, which goes a long way to solving the problem of version control. It’s a collaborative, dynamic, digital format, built from structured data that can be searched and plugged into other systems. A Google doc is a browser-native document, not a static file. Benefits of Google docs for redlining contractsĬompared to the static files and version problems of Word, Google docs are a step in the right direction. These problems increasingly drive modern legal teams to look for collaborative, browser-native solutions for redlining contracts. Anyone reviewing the PDF in future would have no idea why the final text reads as it does. Once a Word contract is exported as a PDF for signing, all the data about those contract negotiations is lost. It leads to multiple versions being created, followed by confusion and wasted time. It’s still far too common to see ‘MSA_Final_Finalfinal_draft_v.18.doc’ as the filename of a Word contract that’s been through redlining in tracked changes. Tracked changes are difficult to read, sometimes difficult to find, and too many tracked changes can also have an impact on document load time.īut the two biggest problems cause by using tracked changes for redlining contracts are: 1. However, if you’d used Word then you also know quite how painful it can be to collaboratively edit a document via the tracked changes functionality. … which goes some way to making it obvious when changes have been made, and need to be reviewed by the counterparty.
Hit the button below to find out more - otherwise, read on to learn how to get part way there with Google or Word documents. If you're looking for an intuitive redlining and negotiating experience for contracts, you can collaborate on documents entirely in-browser with Juro.
But for our purposes, we’re talking about contracts. Read more about redlining in the context of discriminatory practices here. It’s important to note that in certain countries, ‘redlining’ has an entirely different meaning and historical context. Once both parties are happy and all the ‘redlines’ are accepted or rejected, the contract can move forward to signature. It’s up to the parties to decide which terms they object strongly to, which they can live with, and where a middle ground of compromise might be. Redlining is part-collaboration, part-negotiation: some changes are intended to simplify the agreement, but some are intended to advance either party’s commercial position, or minimize the risk it’s taking on.
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