Digitising documents is no longer just an optional strategy for modern companies — it’s a necessity. In every industry, people increasingly work remotely, whether from their own homes or other locations worldwide. The global pandemic has only emphasised the importance of digital in modern business. According to one Forrester report, companies with no digital document processes reported 10x more at-risk customers and 2x more at-risk revenue compared to fully digital companies during the pandemic.

Adobe has long been a leader in supporting digital documents and collaboration through Adobe Document Cloud. It’s no surprise that Adobe Document Cloud applications have even found a home in one of the most paperwork-heavy groups at Adobe: Adobe Legal. Members of the Adobe Legal team worldwide rely upon Adobe Acrobat DC and Adobe Acrobat Sign to improve efficiency, speed and security of thousands of sensitive documents every year.

“The legal profession relies heavily on paperwork, whether it’s drafting contracts or approving agreements,” says Andrew Savage, VP, Deputy General Counsel, Digital Media Legal at Adobe. “With Adobe Acrobat DC and Adobe Acrobat Sign, we create digital workflows that balance security and precision with speed and accessibility. Adobe Document Cloud allows us to spend more time focusing on providing value to our clients — rather than paperwork.”

Creating more secure signing workflows

The Adobe Legal team created hundreds of pre-approved templates that the Legal team can send for signature through Acrobat Sign with just a few clicks. For non-standard legal documents, the Legal team can add signature fields to any PDF created in Adobe Acrobat DC nearly as quickly. Acrobat Sign notifies signers via email, allowing signers to open, review and sign documents from any device anywhere in the world.

All signed documents are saved and stored as PDF documents, eliminating the need for Adobe to keep locked lumber rooms filled with sensitive files. While shifting paper processes to digital ones improves efficiencies, it also contributes to the company’s commitment to sustainability by reducing paper consumption around the world.

“One of the biggest benefits for Adobe Document Cloud is how it supports simplified, efficient collaboration — a significant part of any legal professional’s job,” says Kevin O’Neill, Director and Associate General Counsel, Document Cloud and Adobe Acrobat Sign. “Adobe Document Cloud makes it easy to circulate contracts, add feedback and approve changes. High-security features such as advanced redaction and password protection allow us to preserve the confidentiality of sensitive documents as well.”

Acrobat Sign provides a wide range of signing options for any type of contract. Acrobat Sign can send contracts including sales orders, data protection agreements and enterprise term licence agreements to multiple signers at the same time or in a specific order. Approval workflows can be added for contracts where the customer wants internal approval from finance and legal teams before a director officially signs off on a deal.

Acrobat Sign also tracks documents in real time with a dashboard view into the contract’s journey. All parties are notified when the document is completed by receiving a clean, approved copy of the signed contract — no more struggling to deal with illegible contracts that have been scanned multiple times.

“We sometimes hear about companies that are reluctant to accept electronic signatures over security concerns, but Adobe Acrobat Sign is far more secure than wet signatures in many ways,” says O’Neill. “Adobe Acrobat Sign delivers documents directly to a signer’s email inbox and audit trails provide evidence to validate the signatures. We can password protect documents and prevent edits to contracts. In this way, Adobe Acrobat Sign helps secure contracts much more tightly than paper sitting on a desk unattended.”

Increasing speed and efficiency through digital

The Adobe Legal team processes around 10,000 contracts per quarter. Through digital process and self-sufficient workflows powered by Adobe Document Cloud, the Legal team speeds up routine agreements and gives staff more time to focus on higher-level contracts.

Marianne Low oversees sales contracts in Southeast Asia (SEA) as well as Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) public sector. End-of-quarter periods are always the busiest times of the year for sales teams and solicitors such as Low typically worked long hours to help their sales teams complete contracts on time.

“We’re often dealing with customers in different time zones, so with paper processes, the minimum contract turnaround time was around three days,” says Low. “With Adobe Acrobat Sign, it typically takes hours; I’ve even seen contracts returned in minutes. Adobe Acrobat Sign makes it fast, simple and easy for anyone to sign, no matter where they are.”

The Product Legal team for Digital Media takes advantage of intuitive forms created using Adobe Acrobat DC to streamline legal reviews. “Using an Adobe Acrobat form allows us to capture all required information without needing to go back and forth with product teams,” says Letitia Hsu, Associate Legal Counsel for Adobe. “This frees up our time to focus on product strategy and structuring for new offerings.”

Boosting productivity with self-service

Adobe created more than 300 Acrobat Sign templates, many of which are integrated into the Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) system. Many of these templates are self-service, meaning that anyone can log into the CLM, fill in necessary information and send out the agreement without needing further approval from the legal team. For example, anyone at Adobe can distribute a standard non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for any sales meeting or event without needing to take up valuable time working with an solicitor.

“Adobe Acrobat Sign automatically loads signed agreements back into the CLM as a fully signed record,” explains Kaitlin Brummitt, CLM Business Analyst, Adobe. “We don’t have to worry about hunting down signatories or scanning documents back into the system. This gives us a huge productivity boost and allows Adobe to spend more time on more complex deals.”

The Legal team also worked with the procurement department to consolidate procurement processes with self-service procurement contracts. By training the procurement team to assess and manage low-risk procurement contracts directly, reducing the time needed to complete a contract by 73%.

By connecting Adobe Document Cloud to online portals, legal teams further enhance accessibility and self-service. The new Conflict of Interest portal allows admins to send out control letters for signature through Acrobat Sign and then upload them through the portal.

“Contracts and paperwork are the foundation for so many industries,” says Andrew Savage, VP, Deputy General Counsel, Digital Media Legal at Adobe. “With the perfect collaboration between Adobe Acrobat Sign and Adobe Acrobat DC, we not only increase efficiencies, we also dramatically support sustainability through paperless workflows. I’m very proud of the impact that Adobe Document Cloud can have across industries.”

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