"We have to sign by tomorrow, and legal still hasn't replied." Park, a manager on the business side, attached the contract file and sent it with a single line: "Please review." The moment legal opens the email, they start with questions. What kind of deal is this? How much is it for? Is it the counterparty's template? A day goes by as questions and answers bounce back and forth.
The short version
When legal's reply is slow, it's often not because legal is slow, but because the information needed for the review is outside the contract. Send these five things from the start, deal background, amount and term, whose template it is, what's already been agreed, and the deadline, and the round trips of questions drop off.
5 things to always include in a review request
1. One line of deal background. Who it's with, what it's for, and why. The same clause carries a different level of risk depending on the nature of the deal.
2. Amount and term. The contract value, the term, and whether it auto-renews. Legal uses these to decide how deep to go and how to prioritize.
3. Whose template it is. If it's your company's standard template, only the changed parts need a look; if it's the counterparty's, every clause has to be read from scratch.
4. What's already agreed and the room to negotiate. If you've verbally agreed on payment terms or a liability cap, say so. Add your negotiating position (are we the customer or the supplier?) and legal can propose realistic revisions.
5. The deadline and the reason. Instead of "by tomorrow," be specific: "The counterparty's CEO is scheduled to sign on the morning of November 5."
Ready-to-use review request template
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Deal background | New contract outsourcing next year's logistics to Company A |
| Amount / term | 120 million won per year / Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2027, 1-year auto-renewal |
| Template | Counterparty's |
| Agreed terms | Verbally agreed: month-end settlement, payment on the 15th of the following month |
| Deadline | Signing scheduled for the morning of Wed, Nov 5 |
Is it okay to run it through AI first?
Search for "contract review" and you'll see plenty of posts about reviewing contracts with ChatGPT or Claude. They help with summarizing and figuring out what an unfamiliar clause means. But a review done without knowing your company's deal background or negotiating situation is hard to use as a conclusion, and you need to check your company's security policy before uploading a contract to an external AI service at all. It's safer to use AI to get organized before sending to legal, and leave the judgment to legal.
When email requests hit their limit
Even if you follow the template, when you go back and forth by email, revisions scatter across messages and it's hard to track which version legal has actually seen. From legal's side, it's hard to see at a glance how many requests have come in and which ones are urgent.
- If legal review requests are a handful a month, turning the template above into an email template or a groupware form is enough.
- If requests are many and come in from several departments, you start needing a tool where the status is visible (received → under legal review → approved → signed) and comments and revision history pile up in one place on the contract. According to public sources, PRIX offers AI contract summaries, key clause extraction, and risk review (HelloT).
Alpaca's takeaway
A good review request saves legal's time, and in the end gets the business side to signature sooner. Legal isn't the team that blocks you; it's the team that shows you the safe, fast route. Send them the materials to find that route from the start.
🦙 That's it for Researcher Alpaca's research notes. This post is a general overview, not legal advice on any specific matter. If anything's wrong or you have more questions, let me know through "Contact Josh" below.
Related posts
- 10 essential clauses in a service contract: what you'll fight over if it's missing
- 3 ways to analyze reviews: reading them yourself, ChatGPT, or a dedicated tool
Sources
- AI-powered contract management SaaS PRIX (HelloT) — AI summaries, clause extraction, risk review
