From shoring up contractual obligations to facilitating patient care, in-house Legal teams across industries are pivoting in the wake of COVID-19 and its global impact.
Hearteningly, we’re hearing amazing anecdotes from the Ironclad community, leveraging digital contracting and contractual workflows to quickly update agreements — e.g., with force majeure clauses — extend pro bono services, and streamline legal processes during this unprecedented upheaval.
The human and business upshot is palpable. Teams behind the Ironclad wheel are helping stabilize their businesses, get workers to work, and give back to the community.
Here are some of our favorite stories.
Keeping workers and the economy rolling
Deemed an “essential company,” a national trucking logistics, transport and freight company created a contractual workflow featuring an invaluable legal addition — a formal letter designating specific company employees as “essential workers,” required to travel for work.
Impact: Warehouse and trucking workers on the road can show this official company agreement to authorities if they are questioned while traveling or commuting to and from work under a shelter-in-place order.
Looking out for the business
Steeling itself against uncertainty, a financial services organization that specializes in serving small businesses created three new contractual workflows:
- Personal Guarantee
- Payment Plan
- Critical Vendor Addendum
Impact: The Fintech firm won’t be caught off guard in the event of a business downturn, including client bankruptcy.
Addressing the current “take-out, pick-up only” climate, a mobile commerce technology firm built a new order form, mirroring their other sales agreements, in a contractual workflow — allowing restaurants access to the firm’s service for free for four months. In a timely move, they’ve also updated their MSA with force majeure language.
Impact: When a unique business approach flares and demands priority, in-house Legal can quickly adapt to service the opportunity and the consumers adjusting their own lifestyles.
Fast-tracking for those on the front lines
Based in New York City, an online virtual doctor technology company told us they’re pivoting their product line to address COVID-19, e.g., encouraging free chats with online nurses, allowing patients to self-isolate and help flatten the spread of the virus in one of the hardest-hit locations.
Impact: Understandably, the organization’s in-house legal team has been pulled into many ad hoc projects in the past weeks. Their hope is going live with a digital contracting platform will help streamline their contracting processes, so they can focus on their bread and butter, patient care.
Doing right by the community
In an age of uncertainty, giving back to those facing increased personal or business challenges is a business value and must, in our eyes.
Tapping the flexibility of digital contracting to streamline and templatize legal agreements, a popular work management platform is demonstrating its commitment to pro bono services, offering its solution to potentially dozens of local nonprofits. And all without requiring burdensome, rote paperwork that might tax its own in-house Legal beyond capacity and deliver benefits to the community too late.
Impact: Beyond mere lip service, truly taking to heart the mantra “we’re in this together” by donating services and expertise is making a difference in the lives around us.
Winning as one
At Ironclad, raising up and championing the legal community (and by extension everyone it touches) is part of our core mission — in good times and in uncertain, uncharted times like those today. That’s why it’s so gratifying to see the examples of ingenuity and unselfishness noted above, which, of course, are just the tip of the iceberg.
We salute the effort and that yet to come.
Ironclad is not a law firm, and this post does not constitute or contain legal advice. To evaluate the accuracy, sufficiency, or reliability of the ideas and guidance reflected here, or the applicability of these materials to your business, you should consult with a licensed attorney. Use of and access to any of the resources contained within Ironclad’s site do not create an attorney-client relationship between the user and Ironclad.
