CounselLink Answer Center for Clients

Creating and Managing In-Progress Contracts

  • Updated

This article covers the following:

Finding Contracts

From the homepage, you can locate contracts in several ways:

  • You can find the from the Contracts homepage panel. Click on any link to take you to a search page with the link name as the filter. The links that display here depend on the roles you have for Contracts.

  • For non-CounselLink+ users, click Executed Contracts or In-Progress Contracts from the top navigation bar. Select All Pages to view additional filters. Click the gear icon (upper right) to manage pinned links.

Creating a Contract in CLM

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  1. Navigate to the In-progress Contracts page.

  2. Click + NEW CONTRACT.

  3. Fill in the Contract information. Fields marked with a red asterisk are required.

  4. Click Save.

  5. Upload a document or select a template (if templates are enabled).

Adding Users to a Contract Review and Defining Roles

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After creating a contract and uploading documents, invite users to participate in review and negotiation.

If the contract contains multiple documents, users may play different roles on them and need to be invited separately.

  1. Click Share on the document.

  2. Enter the user’s email (or select from the dropdown).

  3. Assign a role.
  4. Add a note if needed.
  5. Click Send.

CLM sends role assignment emails with secure contract links.

Inserting Text from an External MS Word Document

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Insert any external text, tables, etc. into a contract with the Insert from Word feature. 

Your organization must have this feature enabled to use it. 

  1. Place your cursor where you want the content inserted.

  2. Select the Insert from Word icon (the icon with "W") from the menu options.

  3. Select the file. 

The document document contents are inserted.

Canceling, Restarting or Deleting Contracts

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  1. Open the contract.

  2. Click the three-dot menu in the upper right corner.

  3. Select an option:
    • Cancel: The contract will still be visible in search results with a Cancelled status. Click Leave comment to reveal a text box area.
    • Restart: Option only available on cancelled contracts.
    • Delete: Deleting a contract permanently removes it and all associated documents.

Canceling or Deleting Documents

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Canceling a Document

  • Leaves the document visible but marks it as Cancelled.

Deleting a Document

  • Permanently removes the document from the contract.

To cancel or delete:

  1. Open the contract.

  2. Locate the document.

  3. Click the three-dot menu next to it.

  4. Select Cancel or Delete. You can only delete a document if the contract is in Draft status.

  5. Confirm.

Inviting Counterparties to Negotiate

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To begin negotiation with a counterparty, move the contract to the Negotiate stage. If the contract is a third-party document, you must manually notify the counterparty.

If the Send Invite button appears, then you must click it in order for the counterparty to be notified.

  1. Click Send Invite. 

  2. Click Next.

  3. Confirm the correct counterparty is selected; this information is typically entered when the contract is created. You can change the counterparty information and add a note for the counterparty.

  4. Click Send.

Amending Contracts

You can amend an executed contract. You may need to draft an amendment if:

  • A contract is up for renewal and you want to extend the end date rather than create a new one.
  • An essential term needs modification.

You must have the Contract Manager role to perform this action.

  1. Open the contract on the Executed contracts page.
  2. Click the three-dot menu.

  3. Click Amend contract.

  4. Review and edit the details as needed.
  5. Click Save. The amendment is automatically linked to the original contract.
  6. Upload the Amending Document or use a Template.

CLM adds an "-A" to the title of the first amendment added to a contract. Subsequent amendment titles will display with a letter B, C, D, and so on. This allows you to track and organize the related contracts.

After Amending a Contract

  • If the Expiration date changes, the new date displays on the Executed contracts page and a small (?) icon appears next to the date. Hover your cursor over this icon to see the original dates.
  • Click the title to view relevant information on the amendment.
  • When you review the post-execution information, a notification displays about the date change. Click the link to view the amendment responsible for those changes.
  • An Amended badge appears on the contract. Hover over it to view more information.

Making Contracts Private

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Chief Negotiators can mark contracts private.

  1. Open the contract.
  2. Navigate to Contract Info.

  3. Check the Private under Contract Visibility.

  4. Click Save.

Only you can see the contract in the system. A badge appears in the top right to indicate a private contract. Share the documents to specific internal users via Share.

Reinstating a Terminated Contract

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  1. Navigate to the Executed Contracts page.
  2. Click the three-dot menu on the top right of the Contract Overview page.
  3. Click Reinstate contract.
  4. Confirm.

The contract moves to the Managed stage. 

Reassigning the Chief Negotiator

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The Chief Negotiator role for a contract may change based on your team's processes. You can reassign that contract role as needed.

Before Manage Stage

Before a contract goes into the Managed stage, you can go to the Contract Info section and change the Chief Negotiator to anyone on your team who has that role assigned.

After Manage Stage

The Chief Negotiator becomes the Contract Administrator. The Contract Administrator can be reassigned to any user who has the Chief Negotiator role.

The newly assigned Chief Negotiator receives an email notification when the form is saved.

During Contract Request Phase

Option 1:

  • Contract Negotiator 1 (CN1) updates the Chief Negotiator field to Contract Negotiator 2 (CN2).

  • Click Save → Reassign.

  • CN1 becomes a Lead.

Option 2:

  • CN1 uses Reassign Chief Negotiator from the action menu.

  • Select CN2.

  • CN1 loses access.

Linking Contracts to a Matter

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You may link in-progress or executed contracts to an existing matter (if you have access to the matter).

  1. Find the matter.
  2. Click the Contracts tab at the bottom.

  3. Click +Add Existing Contract.

    The Add Contract window displays.

  4. Search and select contract(s).
  5. Click Add Selected Item(s).

The selected contracts will appear in the Contracts tab.

Linking Contracts to Each Other

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You may need to link contracts for several reasons several reasons, including:

  • Indicating an implementation agreement is the result of a framework agreement.
  • Making an NDA and a Customer agreement a part of the same project.

If you have related contracts, you can link them in two places.

Linking Contracts

  1. Click te Contract information on the Contract Overview page.

  2. Click +Add contract under Linked Contracts.

  3. Click on a Relation type from the dropdown menu:
    • Child to
    • Parent to
    • Amendment to
    • Amended by
    • Addendum to
    • Supplemented by
    • Extension to
    • Extended by
    • Related to
    • Terminated by
    • Termination to
    • Superseded by
    • Supersedes
  4. Start typing the contract name in the Related contract field and click to select it.
  5. Click on the blue check mark to save.

Viewing Linked Contracts

View contract information in two places:

  • On the top-right corner of the contract page:

  • On the contract list page: