The platform helps lawyers and entrepreneurs collaborate. This means that both lawyers and entrepreneurs can use it to work together. Here's how it generally works:
- The entrepreneur decides who their main lawyer is and registers counsel in their account.
- Once the entrepreneur has finished registering legal counsel, the platform invites the lawyer to access the entrepreneur's account.
- We will first ask the lawyer and entrepreneur to agree on what documents the lawyer will review and what documents fall into the "optional review" category.
- If the entrepreneur has multiple lawyers (for example, an IP lawyer, a litigation lawyer, and a corporate lawyer), they will choose to register counsel with the lawyer that will want to review the documents that the entrepreneur has generated in the platform (in most cases, this is the corporate lawyer).
- Need more information about registering counsel? Check out this article.
Once the entrepreneur has invited the lawyer to the account, the lawyer will be able to log in and see a list of clients as well as these parts of the client accounts:
- HR Panel (Employee Overview Report, Onboarding Task Report if applicable, Offboarding Task Report if applicable, Org Chart, Employee Compensation Report, Employment Status Report aka the I-9 report, EEO Report, as well the headcount chart)
- Equity & Financing Panel (Cap Table, Next Round Planner, Exit Scenario Planner, Fundraising, Stock Ledger, Equity Transactions, Employee Equity Report)
- Counsel Panel (Involvement Settings, Team Management)
- Data Room
- Directory (User Directory, Companies, and Firms)
- Board & Stockholder Panel (lists what board consents and shareholder consents are completed or in progress)
- Company Profile Panel (shows things like common/preferred stock number, board members, officers at a glance)
- The lawyer has an almost identical view to the "full company access" view that the entrepreneur has.
Once the lawyer-entrepreneur relationship is established in the account, either party can run a workflow.
- Either the lawyer can run a workflow (which will, in turn, create the documents), or the entrepreneur can run the workflow. Whoever runs the workflow and creates the documents will be in the best position to remind signers to sign and shepherd it through the signature process.
- If the entrepreneur has run the workflow, there will be an extra step where it will either:
- finitely go to the lawyer for review ("legal review required") before it gets sent out for signature or
- The entrepreneur will have the choice ("legal review optional") of whether or not to send it to the lawyer for review.
If the entrepreneur has run the workflow, then the legal review process will go something like this:
- Entrepreneur sends documents to counsel: The entrepreneur will reach the "Checkpoint" screen and will be able to view the documents and make edits. If the entrepreneur thinks the documents are good to go, the entrepreneur can continue, and the platform will either send the document to the lawyer automatically (if legal review is required) or send the documents to the lawyer only if the entrepreneur checks the "Send to counsel" button (if legal review is optional).
- IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT that the entrepreneur only sends documents to the lawyer when they are ready to go out for signature, once the lawyer approves. If the lawyer approves, the documents do NOT have to go back to the entrepreneur; instead, they can go straight out for signature if the lawyer chooses (more about that coming up).
- Lawyer reviews documents: The lawyer is presented with the documents. The lawyer can either accept the documents and click the button that automatically sends out for signature, or the lawyer can make changes and edits before clicking the "Request Changes" button. This will send the document back to the entrepreneur to decide if the entrepreneur would like to incorporate these suggested changes. The lawyer is also given information about the last time they reviewed this template. For example, if the lawyer reviewed this exact offer letter template yesterday with another client, we will remind him/her of that.
- If the lawyer "requests changes," the workflow goes back to the entrepreneur. If the lawyer accepts, it goes out for signature. When the lawyer reviews the document, they can make edits (which counts as "requesting changes" to the document as written). This goes back to the entrepreneur. If the lawyer accepts the terms as they are and makes no changes, it goes to the next step in the process (for example, the board members might be asked to sign the board consent).
- The relationship in the account can be ended at any time by either the entrepreneur or the lawyer. Both the entrepreneur and the lawyer have the ability to stop the relationship in the account at any time. If the entrepreneur stops the relationship, the entrepreneur will have many of their workflows locked. For example, they will not be able to grant new shares, and the workflow will be locked unless they register new counsel. If the counsel stops the relationship, the lawyer will lose access to the client's account.
- Counsel Settings is where you'll define which workflows will require lawyer review and which workflows will have optional lawyer review. Either the lawyer or the entrepreneur can decide to propose changes for these settings at any time. However, the changes will not be complete unless the other party agrees to the proposed changes. For step-by-step instructions on how to change counsel settings, see our article here.
- Lawyer Support: We are here to support entrepreneurs, their employees, board members and shareholders, and also their lawyers. If your lawyer has questions, or if we can provide them any guidance on the system, they can reach out anytime. We also offer one-on-one training for lawyers to efficiently get them up-to-speed on using the platform with their clients.
Additional Resources:
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.