As Bolton & Menk continued to grow across multiple states, its contract processes had not kept pace. For General Counsel Abby Pettit, operating as a one‑person legal team and the absence of a contracts lifecycle management (CLM) system created growing risk, inefficiency, and inconsistency.
Challenge
Bolton & Menk’s contracts management relied on employee‑driven practices with minimal enforcement. Templates existed, but usage varied widely by office and project Contracts were stored across thousands of project files rather than organised by agreement or counterparty. Key challenges included:
- Inconsistent legal review and approval processes across offices and states
- Contracts buried in project‑based file structures, making agreements difficult to locate
- No existing CLM system or workflows to build from, requiring a full greenfield implementation
- A growing business supported by a single in‑house legal resource
With increasing hiring and expanding geographic reach, the risks of fragmentation and inefficiency were accelerating.
Solution
Recognising that standing up a CLM program alone was not feasible, Bolton & Menk selected IntelAgree for its Microsoft 365 compatibility and brought in Elevate to lead the implementation. Elevate managed the project end-to-end, providing structure, pace, and hands‑on expertise.
- Consolidated state‑specific contract versions into 16 standardised smart templates
- Designed and built approval workflows aligned to the firm’s operating model
- Tagged contract attributes and configured smart forms to generate agreements consistently
- Delivered weekly check‑ins, clear milestones, and a shared workspace for collaboration
Bolton & Menk retained decision-making, while Elevate handled execution. When choices required trade-offs, Elevate guided the process by explaining downstream impacts. For final testing, an Elevate team member worked onsite, enabling real‑time troubleshooting alongside Elevate’s remote development team.
From kick-off in late August to go‑live in mid‑December, the entire CLM operation was delivered in approximately 3.5 months.
