Recipe: Build an AI Playbook for Non-Legal Users to Handle First Pass Redlining

Instructions

To build and use an AI playbook, follow the steps below in order:

Build the Playbook

We know that different organizations will have different levels of comfort in allowing non-legal users to initiate AI redlining. There are also different preferences when it comes to choosing between full clause replacement versus targeted redlining.

To create a playbook, you must be an administrator and have Workflow Designer access.

Choose a Workflow Configuration and Clauses

First, you must select a workflow configuration that meets the following criteria:

• Negotiated frequently
• Redlines are less complex than average
• Workflow owner stays consistent throughout the workflow

Next, identify 3-5 clauses you want to add. Keep in mind that each clause will be configured according to one of the following: 

• Option 1: Remove a clause that you don’t allow.
• Option 2: Insert a clause that you require.
• Option 3: Swap the document’s language with your preferred language.
• Option 4: Apply AI-generated redlines.

Each option results in 1-click solution for the workflow owner. With your workflow configuration and clauses chosen, it’s time to build the playbook.

Configure Playbook Settings for Each Clause

Now, you must configure your playbook settings for each clause. All clauses have the same setup for the top section of playbooks:

1. In Ironclad, click the Workflow Designer tab and select the workflow template you want to edit.

2. On the Document step, locate the panel on the left and click the down arrow located next to Attributes. Click Playbook.

   

3. Click Add Clause indicated by a plus sign.
4. Select the AI Clause Type from the dropdown menu. This optional step can assist in detecting clauses. If your clause or term is not available in the list of AI-powered clauses, you can create AI Custom Clauses. Both Out of the Box AI Clauses and AI Custom Clauses will be displayed in this dropdown menu. For more information on AI Clause Types, refer to AI Clauses and AI Customer Clauses Overview.

For the remaining configuration of each clause, follow one of the four options below:

Option 1: Remove a Clause You Don’t Allow

1. Set a Trigger and Presence Rule. To remove a clause that you don't allow, we recommend the following:
   • Set Clause Applies When to Always.
   • Set Presence Rule to Clause is not accepted in documents.
2. In the Positions section, you can leave the Pre-Approved and Needs Approval sections as is.
3. Select an approver. We suggest selecting a group instead of a specific user. This helps prevent delays in the contract process if someone is out-of-office. Precise redlining only displays for users that are added as clause approvers.

Option 2: Insert a Required Clause

1. Set a Trigger and Presence Rule. To remove a clause that you don't allow, we recommend the following:
   • Set Clause Applies When to Always.
   • Set Presence Rule to Clause is required in documents.
2. In the Positions section, hover over Non-standard language and click the three stacked dots. Select Require approval to use position.
3. Define your playbook positions. In the Pre-approved section, click Add to add your preferred language.
4. Select an approver. We suggest selecting a group instead of a specific user. This helps prevent delays in the contract process if someone is out-of-office. Precise redlining only displays for users that are added as clause approvers.

Option 3: Swap Document’s Language with Your Preferred Language

1. Set a Trigger and Presence Rule. To remove a clause that you don't allow, we recommend the following:
   • Set Clause Applies When to Always.
   • Set Presence Rule to Clause is not accepted in documents.
2. In the Positions section, hover over Non-standard language and click the three stacked dots. Select Require approval to use position.
3. Define your playbook positions. In the Pre-approved section, click Add to add your preferred language.
4. Select an approver. We suggest selecting a group instead of a specific user. This helps prevent delays in the contract process if someone is out-of-office. The intended non-legal users should not be listed as clause approvers. Precise redlining only displays for users that are added as clause approvers.

Option 4 - Apply AI-Generated Redlines

1. Set a Trigger and Presence Rule. To remove a clause that you don't allow, we recommend the following:
   • Set Clause Applies When to Always.
   • Set Presence Rule to Clause is not accepted in documents.
2. In the Positions section, hover over Non-standard language and click the three stacked dots. Select Require approval to use position.
3. Define your playbook positions. In the Pre-approved section, click Add to add your preferred language.
4. Select an approver. We suggest selecting a group instead of a specific user. This helps prevent delays in the contract process if someone is out-of-office. The intended non-legal users should not be listed as clause approvers. Precise redlining only displays for users that are added as clause approvers.

Use the Playbook

In an active workflow that uses a workflow configuration containing your new playbook, any clause that doesn’t exactly match your preferred language will appear in the Needs Review section of your playbook. 

To initiate Precise Redlining, click the ✨Redline button. Ironclad will generate multiple AI-powered suggestions that align the clause with your preferred position, each accompanied by a Suggestion Rationale explaining the reasoning behind it.

The ✨ Redline button behaves slightly differently in each of the four options in the above screenshot:

• Option 1: Remove a clause that you don’t allow by deleting it from the draft.
  
• Option 2: Add a required clause by inserting your preferred language into the draft.
  
• Option 3: Swap the document’s language with your preferred language for a given clause. In this option, the user will only have one option to fix the clause. They will not be given multiple options for language, and they will not have the ability to approve the clause as is. They can either perform the full language swap or escalate the clause.
  
• Option 4: Apply AI-generated redlines based on the material position of your preferred language. In this option, the user will be given multiple suggested redlines from the AI. The options always appear in order of least change to most change, and each AI-suggested redline includes a Suggestion Rationale section explaining how the suggestions bring the clause in line with the preferred language you entered.
  

Result

This Playbook is available for any workflow participant who has playbook negotiation access.

This recipe was designed to be flexible and adaptable. Not only are there four separate configuration options that you can choose from, but within the same playbook you can choose which option is right for each clause.

Tips & Variations

This playbook is designed to help you get started with features built specifically for non-legal users. Because of the flexibility of configuring each clause independently, you can easily evolve this playbook over time. You can add additional clauses, and you can even update existing clauses based on feedback and results.

Beyond that, you can add nuance or additional users to the playbook. Here are a few ideas:

• Use a condition to configure this playbook clause to only trigger in certain situations. Perhaps a clause is only negotiated for contracts with a value above a certain dollar amount.
• Configure Precise Redlining (Option 4), but only include legal users as the clause-level approvers. This gives you a two-tiered system, where the frontline non-legal user can either fully swap the clause text, or escalate to the legal approver. The legal approver can then use Precise Redlining as their first step.