Is Legal the Bottleneck?
Why do employees fail to involve Legal in contract reviews and approvals? How can a legal team manage risk and liability for an entire business if it is only included 67% of the time?
Perhaps the answer stems from perceptions of Legal’s speed. When asked to identify the top issues in the contract lifecycle, more than two in five (41%) respondents believe contract processes are too slow. Legal respondents are part of this figure.
The number nearly doubles with departments like R&D and Engineering, in which four in five (79%) respondents acknowledge that contract delays slow innovation, team sprints, and product delivery. Sales, Operations, Finance, and HR share similar views of Legal’s sluggishness.
It’s a vicious cycle. Legal is seen as slow, so it’s excluded, creating more risk, which demands more legal intervention.
How Contract Intelligence Breaks the Cycle
Contract intelligence provides the structural fix. It fuels agentic AI-enabled contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems that do not just route contracts—they surface high-risk terms in real time, ensuring Legal is looped in before issues escalate. This is merely one example. Contract intelligence accelerates the entire contract lifecycle, keeping Legal engaged at the right moments. No longer a bottleneck, Legal becomes the business hero who enhances speed, clarity, and control.
When this happens, Legal becomes proactive, not reactive. Risk is governed, not guessed. Executives gain confidence knowing contracts have been reviewed with the right context.