Safehold Reduces NDA Workload by Half with Contract Automation
50% reduction in NDA workload
70-80 NDAs negotiated per month
“Prior to choosing Ontra, my time was consumed with NDAs. Something in my daily workflow had to change so I could find time to spend in other areas. Once we onboarded Ontra, it really freed up a lot of my time. I now work a more balanced business day and am making progress on other company initiatives.”
Overview
Safehold Inc. (formerly iStar) is a New York-based real estate investment firm with a $6.2 billion portfolio. Established in 2017, the firm is the first publicly traded company to focus on modern ground leases aimed at helping owners of high-quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality, and mixed-use properties in major U.S. markets generate returns on their land.
Challenge
High volume of NDAs overwhelms in-house legal team, creates inefficiencies
In 2020, real estate investment firm Safehold reached a critical tipping point as NDA volume climbed to 70-80 agreements per month. At that time, all NDA work was handled in-house, which consumed the legal team’s bandwidth and left little to focus on other important work.
That year, the firm brought on Senior Paralegal Bessie Takatsu and tasked her with a number of projects to help improve the company’s overall efficiency, including streamlining the cumbersome, time-consuming NDA process. Takatsu shared, “I come from a BigLaw background, so a heavy work volume and quick turnarounds are not unusual for me. But with several high-priority projects in my mandate, I needed a cost-effective way to get our NDA work under control without sacrificing speed or quality.”
To keep up with the overwhelming NDA workflow, Takatsu searched for a solution that could help the firm better allocate its time and resources.
Solution
Ontra provides quick relief with fast, cost-effective NDA processing
After vetting a handful of providers, Safehold chose Ontra’s Contract Automation solution. Takatsu shared that her team felt more comfortable with Ontra compared to the other options they considered for a few reasons:
- Ontra demonstrated a clear understanding of the needs of sophisticated professionals with BigLaw backgrounds, which built trust off the bat.
- Takatsu knew a number of other real estate companies already using Contract Automation, so she felt confident that the solution would meet Safehold’s needs.
- Ontra’s “incredible pricing structure” and demonstrable cost savings encouraged the firm’s leadership to embrace the solution.
Safehold easily onboarded with Ontra without requiring the legal team to learn new processes. Ontra’s Contract Automation solution has helped the firm streamline NDA negotiations thanks to its AI capabilities, which limit the need to start each negotiation from scratch, accelerate turnaround time, and promote consistency across all agreements.
These increased efficiencies have provided significant relief to Takatsu: “With Ontra, my NDA workload has been reduced by as much as 50%. That’s a big change.” By cutting down time spent on routine contracts, she gained valuable hours to focus on improving processes in many other areas, including legal billing, entity management, and compliance.
Overall, Contract Automation has helped Takatsu do her job better. “Prior to Ontra, my time was consumed with NDAs. Something in my daily workflow had to change so I could find time to spend in other areas within the company,” she explained. “Having Ontra as my extended team allows me to oversee all of our NDA work in process and gives me time back to address other important work that I would otherwise have to put on the back burner. There’s a much better balance now.”
Published May 5, 2023