Announcing Koncision 2.0—The Changes We Made, and Why We Made Them

We’ve made several changes to Koncision. They’re significant enough that we’re describing them, collectively, as “Koncision 2.0”:

  • Anyone may now use Koncision—not just lawyers.
  • We’ve added a new subscription option: for $500, you may use our confidentiality-agreement template for purposes of copying language to update your own Word templates. (We’ve also increased to $100 from $50 the cost of subscribing to use our template to generate a confidentiality agreement for a single transaction.)
  • And we’ve uploaded a new version of the confidentiality-agreement template.

Let me explain those changes in greater detail.

Anyone May Use Koncision.

Previously, to use Koncision you had to be a lawyer or under the supervision of a lawyer. Two trains of thought led me to decide that that was counterproductive.

First, my analysis (here) of the recent court order in the Missouri class action against LegalZoom made me realize that if it doesn’t make sense to think that LegalZoom is engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, it makes even less sense to think that Koncision is. (For more on this, see “Frequently Asked Questions” [link no longer available].)

And second, my thoughts (here) on what part of the contract process, if any, requires a lawyer reinforced in my mind that much that has traditionally been handled by lawyers could be handled by nonlawyers.

But our confidentiality-agreement template is intended for sophisticated users, whether lawyers or otherwise. And any user who isn’t a lawyer might well benefit from a lawyer’s input when completing a Koncision questionnaire, with the appropriate level of input depending on the user’s sophistication. We require anyone who subscribes to acknowledge as much.

By allowing nonlawyers to use our confidentiality-agreement template, we’re not simply acknowledging a contract-process fact of life—we’re also changing the dynamic by making it much easier for nonlawyers to play a role in the process. Without Koncision, anyone drafting a confidentiality agreement faces the daunting task of sorting through all the potential issues, determining which to address, and determining how to address them. Koncision eliminates that part of the process—the template questionnaire is in effect a thoroughly sophisticated checklist that presents the user with a comprehensive range of deal-term alternatives.

And if a Koncision user wants the assistance of a lawyer, that assistance would come in the form of targeted advice, without any scrivening—in other words, without the inefficiency, haphazardness, lack of clarity, and potential for dispute that comes with traditional contract drafting. For more on how a Koncision user could involve a lawyer in the Koncision process, see this blog post.

The Revised Subscription Options

Based on feedback from Koncision customers, I realized that we weren’t serving an important market. If your confidentiality agreements vary little from one to the next, it probably wouldn’t make sense for you to use Koncision’s template each time. But it would make all the sense in the world to upgrade your own one or more Word confidentiality-agreement templates by incorporating language from a contract you create using Koncision.

So we’ve added a new subscription option just for such users. It costs $500 and lasts for three days, and unlike the other subscription options it includes a perpetual license to copy text from any Koncision output document for purposes of creating or revising your own templates. Otherwise, this subscription option is on the same terms as our subscription for a single transaction.

Under the terms of this option, could you create a Word output document and then repeatedly use it as your template? Yes, you could.

But if you need more than cookie-cutter confidentiality agreements, and if you want to ensure that you’re working from the most up-to-date language, an annual subscription would make more sense.

Another change we made to our subscription options was to increase to $100 from $50 the price to subscribe for a single transaction. For anyone with anything at stake, it remains an utter bargain. For more on Koncision’s value for money, see this blog post.

New Version of the Confidentiality-Agreement Template

The new version of the confidentiality-agreement template allows users to address the implications, for purposes of no-soliciting provisions, of job notices posted on a LinkedIn group. It also allows users to protect themselves against the recipient’s disclosure of information disclosed to it before the parties entered into a confidentiality agreement.

Both of these issues featured in recent litigation and in posts on this blog (see here and here). Spotting such current issues and incorporating them in the template are what help make Koncision’s content state-of-the-art.

And based on customer feedback, we tweaked some content and fixed some typos.

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So that’s Koncision 2.0. With its comprehensive content, its clear language, and the ease with which users can create customized contracts, Koncision has from the start been superior to the alternatives. Now, it has just increased its lead.

About the author

Ken Adams is the leading authority on how to say clearly whatever you want to say in a contract. He’s author of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, and he offers online and in-person training around the world. He’s also chief content officer of LegalSifter, Inc., a company that combines artificial intelligence and expertise to assist with review of contracts.

1 thought on “Announcing Koncision 2.0—The Changes We Made, and Why We Made Them”

  1. Ken: I’m not sure how I missed this post, but I like the changes. I also somehow missed your post about the Missouri LegalZoom class action, a case that I’ve been following. I’m checking out that post next.
    Brian

    Reply

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