Legal Counsel

Department: Legal
Level: Senior operational / Management
Primary objective: Contract management, document compliance, GDPR, and the company's legal archive

What this role does

The Legal Counsel is the custodian of legally binding documents in CRMconnect: drafts and manages contracts with customers, suppliers, and employees; oversees internal approval flows; processes GDPR requests; and ensures no contract expires unnoticed. They are the legal interface between the platform and the company's juridical reality.

Modules used regularly

Daily routine

Morning — legal triage (15–20 min)

1. Contracts expiring in 60 days — /admin/contracts → filter dateend between today and today +60 days → initiate renewal process or notify customer
2. Unsigned contracts — filter signed = 0 AND marked_as_signed = 0 with send date > 3 days → follow up on signing
3. Documents awaiting your approval — /admin/document_management → documents with approval = pending where you are approver → review and approve/return
4. Unresolved GDPR requests — /admin/gdpr → deletion or data export requests without response → process within the 30-day legal deadline

Weekly

Managing customer contracts

Where: /admin/contracts

Complete flow: from template to signed contract

1. Template → Contract created
   /admin/contracts/templates → select contract type (NDA, Service Agreement,
   Framework Contract, Annex) → merge fields auto-populated from customer file

2. [Optional] Internal approval
   → Upload to Document Management for multi-level review
   → Approver 1 (Department Manager) → Approver 2 (Director)
   → On final approval → send to customer

3. Send to customer
   → "Send" button → email with unique link + PDF attached
   → Customer accesses link without authentication (secure hash)

4. Customer signature
   → Reads contract in browser → draws signature → "Accept & Sign"
   → System captures: IP, timestamp, signatory name, signature image
   → You receive automatic notification

5. Post-signing
   → Contract becomes read-only (can no longer be modified)
   → Any modification requires an Amendment (new contract with parent_id)
   → Archive in Document Management

Contract types and when to use them

Key merge fields for templates

Important: if a merge field doesn't populate, it means the corresponding field is empty in the customer file. Complete the file before creating the contract.

Amendments and document hierarchy

Contracts can form hierarchies through the parent_id field:

Framework Contract #001/2026 (parent contract)
  ├── Annex 1 — Technical Specifications (parent_id = 001)
  ├── Annex 2 — Price List Q1 2026 (parent_id = 001)
  └── Amendment 1 — Modification of clause 5.3 (parent_id = 001)
       └── signed separately, same signing flow

When creating an Amendment:

1. Don't modify the original signed contract (it's locked)
2. Create new contract → select parent_id = original contract
3. Document only the modified clauses
4. Send for separate signing

Contract renewal

Where: From open contract → Renewal button

→ New record created in tblcontract_renewals with:
   Old value vs. new value
   Old start date vs. new start date
   Who renewed + when

→ Signature option at renewal:
   Keep existing signature (renew_keep_signature = 1)
   → customer doesn't need to sign again

   Reset signature (renew_keep_signature = 0)
   → customer signs the new term again
   → useful when clauses have changed

Renewal history is visible from the open contract — you can track the evolution of values and terms throughout the entire customer relationship.

Document Management — internal approval flows

Where: /admin/document_management

When to use Document Management vs. Contracts

Recommended folder structure

📁 Active Contracts/
   📁 Customers 2026/
   📁 Vendors 2026/
📁 Legal Templates/
   📄 Standard NDA.docx
   📄 Framework Services Contract.docx
   📄 Service Agreement.docx
📁 Internal Documents/
   📁 HR Policies/
   📁 Compliance Procedures/
   📁 GDPR/
📁 Archive/
   📁 Expired Contracts 2025/

Approval flow

Document created or uploaded
       ↓
Approver 1 notified (e.g. Department Manager)
  → Approves → passes to next level
  → Rejects → returns to creator with justification note
       ↓
Approver 2 notified (e.g. Director)
  → Approves → Document FINAL APPROVED
  → Optionally: automatically moved to "Approved" folder

At each approval, captured: approver identity, IP, timestamp, comment (if any). Complete audit trail.

Document versioning

Each modification → new version saved automatically. You can:

• View complete version history
• Revert to previous version
• Download any version for external archiving

GDPR — compliance and data subject rights

Where: /admin/gdpr

Consent tracking

The system records every consent given or withdrawn:

• Who consented (contact or lead)
• For what purpose (marketing email, data sharing with partners, cookies)
• When and from which IP
• Action type: opt-in (consent) or opt-out (withdrawal)

Processing deletion requests (right to be forgotten)

1. Customer requests data deletion
   (from client portal or by email)

2. Request appears in /admin/gdpr with "pending" status

3. You verify:
   → Are there active contractual obligations? (unsigned contract, unpaid invoice)
   → Are there legal retention obligations? (invoices — 10 years, per fiscal law)
   → If no impediment → anonymise or delete

4. System anonymises personal fields in documents
   (contracts remain in archive without identifiable data)

5. Reply to person with action confirmation
   DEADLINE: 30 days from date of request (GDPR obligation)

Right to portability

From customer or lead file → export all data: activities, documents, communications, tickets. Provide the person with the complete file of stored data.

Custom GDPR fields on contracts

You can add custom fields from /admin/custom_fields for GDPR tracking:

• Legal basis for processing (art. 6(1)(a)/(b)/(c)/(f))
• Responsible DPO
• International data transfers
• Applicable retention period

Reviewing commercial proposals

Where: /admin/proposals

Proposals digitally accepted by the customer have quasi-contractual value — they capture IP, timestamp, acceptor name, and signature image.

Your role:

1. Verify that the terms field in proposals contains the company's standard legal clauses (T&C)
2. On acceptance → system automatically creates a task or notification → you initiate the formal contract
3. Create Contract button from the accepted proposal automatically pulls in customer and value

Configuring Workflow Automation for Legal

Where: /admin/workflow_automation

Essential automations to configure once:

Communicating with customers on contracts

Where: Comments tab from open contract

Works bidirectionally:

• You add comment → customer receives email + sees it in client portal
• Customer adds comment from portal → you receive notification

Practical use:

• Clause clarifications before signing
• Term negotiations (chronologically documented)
• Receipt confirmations
• Modification requests with response and justification

The entire exchange is archived with timestamp and author — evidentiary value in case of dispute.

Monitoring contracts — useful filters

Audit trail — what's logged automatically

You don't need to manually document actions — the system logs automatically:

Export log: /admin/utilities/activity_log — filterable by staff, period, action type. Useful for external audits or litigation files.

Metrics to track

Collaboration with other departments

Practical tips

Good templates save hours of work. Investing in 3–5 well-drafted templates — with correct merge fields and validated standard clauses — eliminates manual drafting for 90% of contracts. Any contract that deviates from standard → Amendment on top of template, not new contract from scratch.

Accepted proposal ≠ signed contract. It has evidentiary value, not full enforceability. Convert to formal contract immediately after acceptance — especially for engagements > 6 months or significant values.

No contract expires without your knowledge. The 60-day and 30-day workflow alerts are mandatory. An expired unrenewed contract can leave services running without a contractual basis — legal and financial risk.

GDPR is not bureaucracy, it's a deadline. 30 days from request. If you don't have a Workflow configured to alert on GDPR request — configure it today.

Document Management is the living legal archive. Don't store signed contracts only in email or on a local filesystem. Any document with legal value → in DM with correct folder, versioning enabled, permissions set. At an audit or dispute, you need instant access to any document from the last 10 years.