Legal Language Template Library

Overview

For all agreements initiated in Docs, users have the ability to modify the agreement text from the standard templates. These modified agreements can be saved in the form of reusable templates, which can be reused by the party that created the template. Any changes made to the standard agreement language will display clearly both in the Docs application interface and in the printed agreement PDF. Additions are marked in bold while any deletions show up in strike-through.

For information on how to update from the 2008 agreement template version to the 2017 agreement template version, please see the article on Updating Agreement Template options when Amending Agreements.

Editing the Agreement Text and Creating a New Template

When the Legal Language workstream is in "Edit" mode, the language of the agreement can be modified under the "Legal Terms" header. Within the Edit view, the agreement text appears in two columns. To the left, you will see the standard agreement language, and to the right you will be able to make text edits. 

All paragraphs within the agreement text can be edited, except the last two paragraphs. These must remain as is in all agreement templates and will therefore not show as editable.

In the event you want to add additional paragraphs to the agreement, they can be inserted at the very end by selecting "Add paragraph" at the bottom of the "Legal Terms" section.

Once edits have been made to the agreement text, you can save these into a new template by selecting "Create New Template". 

Upon choosing to 'Create New Template', you will be prompted to name the template:

Once you select "Save", the modifications made to all paragraphs will save as a template that is reusable. Next time you are party to an agreement of the same standard agreement text, you will be able to reuse your saved template. When selecting a template from your library, in addition to the template name, the username and timestamp of the most recent update will also display

Updating Existing Template

Once a Legal Language Template has been created, users will be given the option to "Update Template" or "Create New Template" after making any additional edits to the language.

Applying Saved Template

Saved Templates may be applied when composing new agreements of the same type (ex. STDC, STDT, EFPT, etc), by using the "Select Agreement Template" dropdown within the Legal Language workstream:

Once a template has been selected, you will receive the following prompt, noting that any previous edits to the original text will be overwritten by the saved template language.

Once applied, updated paragraphs will display as "Changed from Standard Template", with a summary of changes displayed in the upper right of the workstream.

Reverting to Original Language

After applying a previously saved template, users may revert back to to the original agreement language by selecting "Original" from the template selection dropdown, or may update specific paragraphs by selecting "Revert to Original".