Digital Playbooks give you a single, always-current source of truth for the positions you negotiate on your agreements, right inside the Ontra app. Instead of tracking Word files or searching email chains, you and your legal team can view and negotiate from the most up-to-date version at all times.

Introduction to digital Playbooks

Before digital Playbooks, Playbooks (documents specifying positions to negotiate on behalf of a given customer) were saved in Word format. Digital Playbooks bring that same functionality directly into the Ontra app, giving you an electronic, dynamic, single source of truth to inform your negotiations — so you no longer need to download and update Word files or search through email chains to confirm accuracy.

With digital Playbook, you, your lawyers, and your Customer Success Manager can easily access the most current version of the Playbook within the Ontra app and seamlessly navigate through your preferred and fallback positions. The digital Playbook interface helps your lawyers work more efficiently and ensures they're negotiating from the most up-to-date information, according to your preferences.

How to access digital Playbooks

You can access digital Playbooks from the Playbooks & Forms menu option, or on the document details page if a document was negotiated with a digital Playbook. (Note that documents negotiated before this feature will not include a link to the digital Playbook.)

Watch a video demonstration of Digital Playbooks: 

Playbooks & Forms Menu Option

Document Details Page

Digital Playbook anatomy

Tiers are the "rounds" of negotiation in the Playbook. There are three tiers in digital Playbooks:

• Preferred
• Fallback
• Final (where applicable)

Sections are the high-level organizational structure for digital Playbooks. They can be found inline in the Playbook builder or along the left-hand side to use as you navigate the Playbook.

Negotiation instructions and model language can exist on the section level.

Groups are the groupings of positions that live within sections. These are organized by "topic" within a section, much like they are in physical Playbooks. The group level can also house negotiation instructions, as well as model language associated with that group.

Positions refer to each of the line items in the Playbook. Stances can be assigned to positions for each of the preferred, fallback, and final tiers. Individual positions can also accommodate negotiation instructions and model language for the preferred, fallback, and final tiers.

Stances are the various ways a lawyer should respond to a position when negotiating your agreement. The meaning of the stances and the actions a lawyer should take are as follows:

• Accept
  • Accept this position if it shows up in an agreement, but do not add it if not included by the counterparty.
• Include
  • Add this position if it is not in an agreement.
• Reject
  • Remove this position from an agreement if it is already included.
• Removable
  • Only exists for fallback and final tiers. This should only be used if the tier before was included, to indicate to the lawyer that the position they were previously pushing to include is now okay to be removed from the agreement.
    • For example, if you instruct your lawyer team to include language specifying that only materials received after the date of the NDA can be considered "confidential information," but you're okay with removing this language in subsequent rounds.
• Lawyer discretion
  • A lawyer should exercise their discretion in negotiating a position — there is no customer preference on this particular provision.
     

Escalations
Playbooks may include escalation instructions. Escalations are positions you prefer to be escalated to the proper deal team or legal team contact if they arise, or if the lawyer cannot achieve a satisfactory resolution. The various escalation types and the actions a lawyer should take are as follows:

• Deal team
  • Position should be escalated to the appropriate deal team contact.
• Legal team
  • Position should be escalated to the appropriate legal team contact.
• Deal & legal teams
  • Position should be escalated to both the deal and legal team contacts.
• Other
  • Position should be escalated to someone other than a deal or legal team contact. In this case, the appropriate party for the escalation will be listed in the negotiation instructions.

Model Language
Model language is your preferred phrasing for how you'd like a given position or group to be negotiated. You can add this language at the group and position levels.
 

Negotiation Instructions
Negotiation instructions give your lawyer additional insight into your process or negotiation preferences, helping them apply those instructions during active negotiations.

Navigating the Playbook

You can navigate the Playbook using the sections on the left, or use Ctrl+F or Cmd+F to search for key terms, phrasing, sections, groups, or positions.

How to request edits to the Playbook

If you need to update your Playbook, reach out to your Customer Success Manager. Once they've made the change, you, your lawyers, and any other Customer Success Managers on the account will receive an email notification letting you know the Playbook has been updated. See below for a sample of the email notification.

How to view most recent changes to the Playbook

You can view the most recent changes by clicking Changes from Prior Version in the top right corner of the Playbook.

The most recent changes will be displayed in red text.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I edit/update the digital Playbook?

If you need to request an edit to the Playbook, please reach out to your Customer Success Manager.

Can I change the order of the Playbook?

Not at the moment, but a re-ordering feature is coming soon! Using Ctrl+F or Cmd+F to search for key terms, phrasing, sections, groups, or positions will help you navigate the Playbook in the meantime.

Where can I access the digital Playbook?

You can access the digital Playbook on the Playbooks & Forms page of the Ontra web app.

How can I find a specific section of the Playbook?

You can use the navigation on the left side of the screen, or use Ctrl+F or Cmd+F to search for specific key terms, phrasing, sections, groups, or positions.

How do I find strategy-specific Playbooks?

All account Playbooks are available on the Playbooks & Forms page if you want to review account Playbooks outside of negotiations.

How will I know if updates have been made to a digital Playbook?

You'll receive an email notification whenever updates have been made. You can also click Changes from Prior Version in the top right corner of the Playbook to view a list of the most recent changes.