Ep 278: Standardizing Legal Agreements: How OneNDA and OneSaaS Aim to Transform Business Contracting

Feb 11, 2025

Electra Japonas, Chief Legal Officer at Law Insider and founder of the oneNDA initiative, teams up with Preston Clark, President of Law Insider, to revolutionize contract negotiations. They discuss how oneNDA has streamlined NDAs for over 6,000 organizations, facilitating about 10 million agreements annually. Japonas shares her insights from her legal career at the European Space Agency, while Clark outlines ambitious plans for oneSaaS and AI-powered contract automation, aiming to reshape and simplify the legal landscape.

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ANECDOTE

Standardization at the European Space Agency

Electra Japonas's first job at the European Space Agency used standardized contracts.
This experience shaped her vision for contract standardization and the OneNDA initiative.

INSIGHT

The Lawyer's Mindset

Lawyers often see each agreement as unique, leading to extensive negotiation over minor wording differences.
Standardization challenges this mindset by promoting efficiency and shared starting points.

ADVICE

Cost-Benefit Analysis for Legal Departments

Analyze your risk appetite and balance the desire for a 'perfect' contract against the time and cost of negotiation.
Adopting standardized agreements can significantly reduce negotiation time and speed up deals.

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When it comes to contract negotiations, lawyers often find themselves spending countless hours haggling over standard agreements such as NDAs and SaaS contracts, with both sides often saying more or less the same thing, but in different words. What if there was a better way?

Today’s guests believe there is. Electra Japonas, chief legal officer at Law Insider and founder of the successful oneNDA initiative, and Preston Clark, Law Insider president, are on a mission to revolutionize contract negotiations by developing and open-sourcing a suite of standard agreements.

They started with oneNDA, which has been adopted by over 6,000 organizations and used in an estimated 10 million agreements annually, and they have just launched their oneSaaS standard. Now, they are setting their sights on developing a full library of standard, open-source agreements.

Japonas shares how her experience as a lawyer at the European Space Agency initially shaped her vision for contract standardization, and she explains the methodology behind the development of oneSaaS, which involved analysis of nearly 1,000 existing agreements and incorporated feedback from hundreds of legal professionals and SaaS providers.

Clark joins midway through the show to discuss Law Insider's plans to build a comprehensive ecosystem of standardized agreements, supported by AI-powered contract automation technology. He outlines how the company plans to transform routine contract work while maintaining its commitment to keeping these standards freely available to the legal community.

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