Ep10 Fast Track Contracts: Cutting Red Tape & Leading for Good with Deb Hook
Fast Track Contracts: Cutting Red Tape & Leading for Good 🤝✨
E10 is here, and it's all about Fast Track Contracts. In this episode, host Verity White welcomes Deb Hook, head of legal operations at the University of Sydney, to discuss her revolutionary approach to simplifying and automating contracts that’s making waves globally 🌍. They delve into how the program transforms the traditionally slow, complex contracting processes in universities by simplifying and automating the bottom 20% of high-volume, low-risk contracts.
The conversation dives into the initial challenges, technological solutions, stakeholder engagement, and the impactful changes brought about by this initiative. Deb also shares insights on the program's global influence and offers practical advice for small in-house legal teams looking to implement similar projects. The episode highlights the importance of user-centric design, continuous improvement, and effective communication in legal operations.
You’ll discover:
Understanding Fast Track Contracts
Simplifying University Contracts
Funding and Scaling the Program
Design Thinking and Prototyping
Challenges and Solutions in Automation
Knowledge Management and AI Readiness
Sharing Fast Track Contracts with Others
Impact and Feedback
Innovative Legal Team Strategies
Feedback and Project Success
Advice for Small In-House Legal Teams
Contract Simplification and Automation
Leveraging Existing Technology
No-Code Solutions and Prototyping
Design Thinking in Legal Ops
🎙✨ If you're part of a small in-house legal team looking for ways to simplify processes or you’re fascinated by how contracts can be transformed into tools for efficiency and impact, this episode is a must-listen. Don’t miss this deep dive into the future of user-friendly, streamlined legal operations!
Listen Now on Spotify, Apple Podcast or Youtube
"Our job isn't to know the law; it's to communicate the law in a way that our business can use it to actually reduce compliance risk or make change"
— Deb Hook
In Legal Light Bulbs Episode 10, Verity sits down with Deb Hook, Head of Legal Ops at the University of Sydney, to discuss the transformative Fast Track Contracts initiative and the importance of engagement and communication in legal operations.
At [00:01:00], Deb explains the challenges universities face with their long, complex contracts and slow contracting processes. She shares how the Fast Track Contracts program targets the bottom 20% of low-risk, high-volume contracts, radically simplifying and automating them to create a "joyful" contracting experience. By [00:03:00], Deb outlines the selection process for these contracts, emphasising fairness, simplicity, and reduced negotiation to ensure a seamless partner experience.
From [00:06:00], Deb shares how she secured funding through strategic partnerships, leveraging the success of pilot programs to attract additional support from across the university. She highlights the importance of aligning contract initiatives with institutional priorities, using data from processed contracts and time savings to build a business case for further investment.
At [00:09:00], Deb discusses the program's KPIs, including reducing contracts to a Grade 10 reading level, eliminating negotiation, and achieving measurable ROI within a year. She emphasises that simplifying contracts is critical to improving compliance and stakeholder satisfaction, as many legal teams overlook the "bread and butter" work that drives day-to-day operations.
By [00:14:00], the conversation delves into maintenance and scalability. Deb shares insights on knowledge management, ensuring up-to-date templates, and addressing challenges like supporting decentralised contract signing processes. She stresses the importance of having a human support layer alongside automation to ensure a smooth user experience.
At [00:18:00], Deb reveals her decision to make the Fast Track Contracts available to other universities under a Creative Commons Zero license. She explains how sharing these resources aligns with the university's mission as a not-for-profit organisation and fosters collaboration across the sector, leading to greater efficiency and reduced workloads.
The episode concludes at [00:41:00] with a lightning round, where Deb reflects on her favourite simplified contract, a consulting agreement that enables quick industry collaboration, and debunks the myth that legal ops is all about glossy tech, noting the hard work behind the scenes. She also recommends Sign Here by Alex Hamilton as an inspiring resource for contract simplification.
Key Takeaways
Let’s recap the highlights from this episode on Fast Track Contracts:
1. Simplify contracts for clarity and efficiency
Focus on reducing complexity by targeting low-risk, high-volume contracts and simplifying them to improve readability and eliminate unnecessary negotiation. Clear, fair terms benefit both internal and external stakeholders.
2. Use data to build a strong business case
Measure contract processing time, compliance improvements, and ROI to demonstrate the success of your initiative. Showcasing numbers can help secure buy-in and funding for scaling your project.
3. Prioritise knowledge management
Regularly update templates, maintain a knowledge register, and assign ownership of resources to ensure they stay current and effective for your team.
4. Balance automation with human support
While automation can streamline processes, having a human layer for support and troubleshooting ensures a smooth experience for users and fosters trust.
5. Share resources to drive collaboration
Making templates available to others, like the University of Sydney’s Fast Track Contracts under a Creative Commons Zero license, promotes efficiency and collaboration across the sector.
5. Engage and communicate value
Legal teams must actively communicate the value of their work. It’s not just about doing the work but ensuring stakeholders understand how it drives meaningful change and reduces friction.
Lightning Round Highlights
Favourite Contract Simplified: A consulting agreement that enables quick collaboration with industry, unlocking the potential of university research.
Biggest myth about legal ops: That it’s all glossy tech, when in reality, it’s a lot of hard, behind-the-scenes work.
Recommended resource: Sign Here by Alex Hamilton, a practical guide to contract simplification and innovation.
Top advice for small legal teams: Start with simplification—automation is secondary. Use the tools you already have, such as Microsoft Word and macros.
💡Legal Light Bulb Moment:
"For me, the biggest learning in this role has been, it's all about engagement and communications. So you can do the work, but if you don't go out there and sell the value of [that work] to people, you just don't have the same cut through or the same impact. So what I like to say now is our job isn't to know the law; it's to communicate the law in a way that our business can use it to actually reduce compliance risk or make change. I think too many people can sit behind their keyboards and just give a perfect advice to somebody. How is that being applied? How is that being read? Are we actually having the impact we should be? Engagement and communications is very underdone, at least in-house, in-house legal teams”
— Deb Hook
Links & Resources
Listen Now on Spotify, Apple Podcast or Youtube
Fast Track Contracts (University of Sydney)
Internal program developed by the University of Sydney Legal Operations team under Deb Hook, aimed at simplifying and automating low-risk, high-volume contracts
Praised for its practical, common-sense approach to contracting, focusing on reasonable rather than maximal processes.
Connect with Deb
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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/verityw
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