What is redlining software?
Redlining’s meaning varies depending on the context, but for the purpose of contracts, redlining is the process of making changes and revisions to legal documents. Each party makes their ‘redlines’ as part of the negotiation process, and decides which to accept or reject.
Once agreement is reached on the redlines, the parties are ready to move forward and sign the contract.
There’s a different meaning to redlining in the context of historical discriminatory practices - read more about that here. In the legal context, redlines are called redlines because they used to be made in red on the physical document. This is the kind of redlining we’re concerned with, and which can now be done in-browser with contract automation software.
Digital redlining
Just as electronic signature has replaced wet signature for modern businesses, so the redlining and negotiation process has changed to reflect digital collaboration between teams.
Redlining on the same physical document is obviously unsuitable for modern businesses, regardless of the enforced remote working encouraged by the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s inefficient and risky to have to physically work on the same pieces of paper.
But the replacement workflow for redlining takes place largely in Microsoft Word, which is also unsuitable for modern businesses, particularly if contract volumes increase. Microsoft Word does provide some helpful features - its tracked changes appear as red lines in the user interface - but as a tool built on static files, it lacks collaborative features.
It might not be a physical document, but contract users collaborating on redlines in Word still need to swap the same file between them. This creates problems, because users have to:
- Send files via email: this introduces delay
- Navigate version control: this creates confusion as different versions persist
- Find a way to sign: Word isn’t a contract platform, and it lacks functionality for the rest of the contract lifecycle.
Google docs is a browser-based digital document format that offers some advantages over Word, but is ultimately unsuitable for contracts too. Collaboration in Google docs is limited, and unless parties select the right options for tracked changes, it can be difficult to keep up with edits and negotiations.
Find out more about how to redline in Google docs, and its limitations when it comes to collaboration between legal teams.
With these two formats unsuitable for collaborative redlining in-browser, at scale, legal teams are increasingly turning to dedicated software for redlining contracts. If you'd like to try it for yourself, hit the button below. Otherwise read on to find out more.
