Cutting down the time spent on review is difficult but not impossible. Both sides would need to be familiar with the form used by whichever side is drafting. That already happens in some industries—witness the way the National Venture Capital Association’s model documents have become widely used. I’m hopeful that a source of a broader range of documents will appear on the scene in the not-too-distant future.

Ken

I expect that in many cases it is less costly for the experienced person to do the drafting rather than have one person do part and another do the rest.

But the main point is that the drafting of an important document is not an unimportant task that can be left to the less experienced (and cheaper) people.

More frequently that preparing a brand new agreement (or assembling an agreement), I’m left reviewing someone else’s work product for my client because they’re not interested in reading the seventy-five page franchise/licensing agreement.

This means 1) spending a lot of time reading the agreement; 2) preparing tons of changes; 3) making the business terms fit; and 4) rinse and repeat.

I’m not entirely sure what’s more time consuming, initial draft work, or review.