Legal tech business On Your Terms launches 80+ agreement and policy tools for NZ businesses with Josef

“Thinking digitally enables us to provide new, improved ways of delivering affordable legal services to small and medium businesses.”

In less than 12 months, New Zealand business On Your Terms has gone from zero to 80+ tools built and launched on Josef. Eighty!

They generate everything for their business customers from agreements, terms of use and policies to self-serve legal health checks all in the name of better serving the small-to-medium enterprise (SME) community.

Commercial lawyers and co-founders Claire Bodle, Diana Collie and Natalie Fennell were all too familiar with how traditional law firms can neglect SMEs and so dove into automation as a way to help.

We spoke with Claire to hear about the team’s work, what they’ve built on Josef, and how she thinks others in the legal industry can streamline their work.

Hi Claire, tell us about On Your Terms!

Hi, sure! On Your Terms was co-founded by me, Diana and Natalie and we’re all lawyers who’ve been in the legal industry for over 15 years.

We’re passionate about providing the small-medium business community with innovative, affordable legal services because, for a long time, this group hasn’t been particularly well served.

Why’s that? Can legal technology help? 

There are a lot of traditional law firms continuing to charge hourly rates which we see as a slightly out-dated way to charge.

At On Your Terms, we’ve embraced technology as thinking digitally enables us to provide affordable, new, improved ways of delivering legal services to small businesses.

On Your Terms also improves accessibility as clients can quickly jump on their laptop, phone or tablet, answer some questions and receive document(s) or other services there and then.

Do clients enjoy automated experiences? 

Yes! Traditionally, contacting lawyers could be stressful and nerve-wracking, especially for small businesses.

As soon as the lawyer picks up the phone, the client knows the clock is ticking and the bill is on its way up. With self-serve, fixed-priced, digital tools, we’re able to make things less stressful and easier for everyone.

Let’s hear about what you’ve built. What’s available to On Your Terms customers right now?

Sure, there’s a lot! We have around 80 documents (or document bundles) live on our Get Your Legals page right now.

There are also free resources, including our free legal health check, as well as guides – covering consumer law, IP, business structuring and more, and blogs covering hot business legal topics.

Our tools generate documents for businesses to purchase ranging from product and service sales terms or agreements, website terms and conditions, privacy policies, influencer agreements, employment agreements, as well as shareholder agreements, constitutions, and business sale and purchase agreements.

We also have industry specific bundles, such as our Creative Services Essentials bundle. These generate multiple key legal documents for a business based on the user answering just one set of questions. We think they provide us with a point of difference within the industry as we haven’t seen anyone do anything similar!

You, Di and Natalie had no qualms about adopting legal tech. Why don’t more lawyers follow a similar path to On Your Terms?

I think that like in any industry, people can get stuck working in ways that work well enough for them.

Lawyers might continue to charge hourly because they don’t see any reason to adapt. However, moving away from this charging structure can lead to benefits for both clients and lawyers.

For clients, up front fixed pricing provides transparency and reduces the stress of an unknown bill, while for lawyers, by shifting the focus from budgets and targets to providing quality services, they can create a happier, more collaborative work environment.

As more digital legal services and products become available, this will increase competition and I hope this will motivate lawyers to adopt new practices.

What advice would you give to fellow lawyers and legal professionals looking to streamline their work?

Adopt a more client-centric perspective and think about how you purchase services outside of the legal industry. Generally, you don’t agree to a set of services and then get billed an unknown amount afterwards. You know upfront.

In terms of the day to day, consider having your commonly used documents automated rather than needing to re-draft them each time. Creating precedents often falls by the wayside in favour of client work, but using automated products will save you time and free you up to focus on new work.

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Need a legal health check for your NZ business? Get one for free with On Your Terms.