Legal

Legal is Sparko's contract review product. It reads a contract against your playbook, tells you whether to sign, push back or escalate to a lawyer, and keeps your contracts, renewals, vendors and risks in one place.

Legal is its own product with its own plan. You can hold it with or without People. Open it from the product switcher at the top of the sidebar.

AI reviews are a starting point, not legal advice. Every verdict says so, and a person always makes the decision.

Plans

Legal is priced per company, with unlimited users.

	Core	Growth	Business	Custom
Reviews a month	10	40	100	Unlimited
Contract review, contracts, renewals, customers, vendors, partners	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Standard buying positions	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Your own playbooks (selling, partnerships, by category or company)		Yes	Yes	Yes
Terms change alerts		Yes	Yes	Yes
Vendor assessments with sign-off			Yes	Yes
Risk Memory, Restricted contracts, visibility policy			Yes	Yes

A review is one contract review, one vendor assessment, or one playbook review of an employment contract draft run from People, re-runs included. Reviews reset on the 1st of each month. A 14-day Legal trial opens every feature with no limit. Admins can start a trial, or choose a plan, under Company Settings > Billing.

Legal Home

Legal Home puts your decisions first:

Needs your decision. Open reviews, with a count of how many are waiting on you and a badge for each verdict. Each row has the action for its verdict: Complete review for Sign, Download redlines for Push back, Download memo for Escalate to a lawyer. Open goes to the review. All contracts opens the Contracts list. If you can't decide reviews, this card is called Open reviews.
In progress. Reviews still running, by contract, with the step they are on.
Renewals due. Contracts whose notice deadline falls in the next 30 days. View all opens the renewing contracts. The contract owner also gets a notification 30 days and 14 days before the notice deadline, and on the day itself, so a renewal is never missed because nobody opened Legal.
Vendor reviews. Assessments waiting for sign-off, sent back or still an AI draft (shown when vendor assessments are on your plan or you have one).

Start review is at the top, next to how many of this month's reviews you have used. Turn on stats in the header for counts of open reviews, running reviews, renewals due and vendor reviews. Customize layout lets you drag the cards into your own order; the order is kept on this device.

Start a review

Click Start review.
Choose Contract review, or a vendor assessment (security, data protection or AI).
Upload the contract as a PDF or Word file, up to 25 MB. Scanned PDFs without text can't be read yet.
Say which side you are on (we buy, we sell, or mutual) and who the other company is. Pick one you already have, or type a new name.
Click Start. The review takes a few minutes. You can leave the page and come back.

When it finishes, the review opens. If you have moved on to another page, a notice says it is ready, with Open. The Contracts list shows Reviewing while it runs.

If your role is only in Legal, you land on Legal Home when you sign in.

Read a review

The review shows the overall verdict and a one-line count of risks and decisions, then every clause it checked. Click the verdict band, or Details, to open why, what to do next and how many clauses were checked.

The i icon next to the date in the header says what the review checks. It checks the clause types in your playbook and flags any that are missing. It doesn't review clauses outside your playbook, it doesn't confirm tax, regulatory or jurisdiction compliance, and it isn't legal advice. Someone on your team decides what to accept, redline or reject. The memo and its PDF carry the same statement under Review notes.

When the contract has an earlier version, Since the last review in the header opens a drawer with What changed and Earlier risks, each marked Still open or Resolved. A count on the button shows how many items it holds.

Findings. Each clause says whether it matches your playbook, differs, or is missing, with its risk (High, Medium or Low). Filter the list by risk with the tabs above it. Select a finding to see the quoted text highlighted in the contract. If the quote can't be found exactly, the section is tinted and marked as an approximate location.
Suggested edit. The wording the review proposes, ready to copy.
Your decision. Accept the suggestion, edit the redline, or keep their text. Accept all low-risk accepts the low-risk clauses you haven't decided yet.
Mark as risk. Adds a finding to Risk Memory (Business plan).
Complete review. Locks your decisions. Reopen review unlocks them.
Memo. A menu in the header with Open memo and Download PDF, a write-up of the review to share.
Download redlines (.docx). The contract as a Word file you can send back to the other side. Every clause you accepted or edited shows as a tracked change: their wording struck through, yours inserted. If you gave a reason, it appears as a comment on the change. Clauses where you kept their text, and clauses you haven't decided, are left as they were. A clause the contract was missing is added at the end. The button is off until at least one clause is accepted or edited.

If you uploaded a PDF, the Word file is rebuilt from the text of the PDF, so its layout won't match the original. The file name says so. Clauses judged against linked online terms aren't in the contract itself, so they aren't included. A comment on the first line lists any you accepted or edited, so you can send them separately.

Some suggested edits draw on positions your company accepted for this counterparty before. If you didn't run the review and can't see those positions, the edit is hidden and the finding says so. You can still keep their text, but you can't accept or edit that redline. If someone else already accepted it, the Word file you download leaves it out, and the page tells you how many changes were left out. If every change would be left out, there's nothing to download and you're told why.

If a contract contains text that tries to steer the review, the review says so at the top. That text was treated as data, but check the contract yourself.

Contracts

The Contracts list has tabs for All, Active, Renewing in 90 days, Expired or ended, and Drafts in review. Search by title or company, filter by verdict, and sort by any column that shows an arrow.

Open a contract to see:

Overview. Status and Key terms (including governing law and the notice deadline). Change the status or click Edit terms if you can edit the contract. Open Details for the renewal timeline, the counterparty, the terms watch and the activity log. While a review runs, the drawer shows how far it has got.
Versions. Every uploaded version and its reviews. Download a version, upload a new one, or start a review again. A finished review has Download redlines (.docx), the same Word file as on the review page. Only what changed reuses the verdict for clauses that are the same as last time; Every clause reviews everything again.
Obligations. Things either side has to do, such as sending a report. Add one, give it an owner and a due date, or mark it done. The owner is notified a week before it is due and once it is overdue; an obligation with no owner reminds the contract owner instead. In My Hub, the overdue notification shows in red and is listed under Overdue, once per obligation; the reminder sent before the due date is not, even after the date passes. See Recurring obligations.
Access. Who can see or edit the contract, and its classification (Public, Internal, Confidential, or Restricted on the Business plan). Change someone's access between view and edit in place; removing it asks you to confirm. A Restricted contract is visible only to the people named on it and to anyone with View Restricted Contracts Without Being Named. Pick the named people when you choose Restricted. Only someone with that permission can name other people; anyone else can name only themselves. While a contract is Restricted, a share that isn't named is marked as giving no access.

You see a contract if it was shared with you, if you own it, or if your role lets you see all contracts.

Sending a contract for signature

An approved contract whose current version is a PDF can be signed in Sparko. Open the contract and choose Send for signature under Status. A Word-only version shows "Upload a PDF version to send for signature." instead.

On the prepare page, add the people who sign for the other side (name and email) or colleagues, in the order they sign; the company always signs last. Under Add signer, pick External to type a name and email, Employee to search for a colleague, or Candidate to search for a candidate at the interviewing or offer stage (shown only if you can view candidates). Choose the company entity: its authorised signatory signs, or pick a delegate who can sign for the company. Check the fields Sparko placed for each signer (Adjust fields if one is off), add an optional message, choose how long the request stays open (30 days by default, up to 90), and press Send. The contract moves to Out for signature.

External signers get an email with a link. The link opens nothing on its own: they enter a code we email them, read the document, adopt a signature, and confirm with a second emailed code before signing. Candidates sign the same way, as guests. Colleagues sign on their Sparko login. External signers never count as seats.

While a contract is out for signature, you can't upload a new version, send one for review, or change its status by hand; Sparko says "This contract has a signature request in progress. Void it first." Open the signature request to remind the current signer, send a guest a new link, or void it. A new link ends the guest's open signing session, and earlier links stop working. If a guest's link email could not be sent, their row reads Link not sent: use Send a new link. If a reminder or new link can't be emailed, you see "We couldn't send the email. Try again in a minute." and pressing it again is the retry. Sending, reminding and voiding need your Legal plan to be active. Adding a candidate as a signer needs permission to view candidates ("You do not have access to candidates."). If someone declines, the request is voided or it expires, the contract returns to Approved.

When everyone has signed, Sparko seals the PDF with a public timestamp and a completion certificate. If the seal can't be made, the status page and the contract drawer say "We couldn't seal this document. Void it and send it again." and offer Void. The sealed PDF becomes the contract's next version and the contract moves to Executed. Anyone with the file can check it on the verification page.

Recurring obligations

An obligation can repeat monthly, quarterly or every year. When you mark one done, the next one is added for you: same task, same owner, due one period later. It appears right under the one you closed, linked to it and marked Next. A notice confirms it, for example "Marked done. Next due 15 Nov."

Send the monthly capacity forecast Owed by us · Due 15 Oct 2026 · Monthly · Priya Nair Done ↶ Send the monthly capacity forecast Owed by us · Due 15 Nov 2026 · Monthly · Priya Nair Open Next Mark done

Marked it done by mistake? Click Undo on the notice, or the undo arrow shown on every done obligation, recurring or not, if you can edit the contract. The obligation opens again, and the next one it added is removed. If someone has already changed the next one, it stays, and the obligation says so. A second notice confirms the undo, or says why it failed, even if you have closed the contract by then.

Customers, vendors and partners

Each list shows the companies you have contracts with. Sort by any column that shows an arrow. Customers and vendors filter by category and segment, partners by category and partner type. On the Business plan, vendors also filter by the result of each assessment and sort by the next review date. Sorting and filters apply to the whole list, not only the page you're on.

Click a row to open the company in a drawer. Each drawer has Review a contract and Open latest review at the bottom.

Customers. Three tabs: Overview, Contracts and Deviations and redlines. Overview shows category, segment, flagged contracts, how many clauses differ from your selling positions, and the data processing agreements where you are the processor. Click Edit to change the details. Deviations and redlines has the clauses that differ and each contract's review rounds.
Vendors. Their contracts, assessments, risks and changes to their online terms.
Partners. Three tabs: Profile, Agreements and Obligations. Profile has the territory, exclusivity and category. Click Edit to change them; type, commercials and the other relationships are under Advanced. Agreements lists the partner's contracts. Obligations lists what is open, with a done button on each.

Vendor assessments

On the Business plan, you can assess a vendor's security, data protection or AI practices.

Click Run assessment and upload the vendor's evidence, such as a SOC 2 report or a questionnaire.
The assessment checks the evidence against a standard checklist and gives each check Met, Gap or Not enough evidence.
A reviewer can override a check with a reason, send the assessment back with what needs to change, or sign it off. The person who asked for an assessment, or who last ran its checks, can't sign it off, whatever their role, unless your company allows self-approval (see Legal settings).
Add to risks turns a gap into a risk in Risk Memory.

The checklists are drawn from public frameworks and haven't been reviewed by counsel.

Risk Memory

On the Business plan, Risk Memory is your risk register.

Score each risk for likelihood and impact from 1 to 5. The level (Low, Medium, High, Extreme) comes from the score.
Choose a treatment and move the risk through Open, Treating, Plan waiting, Mitigated or Accepted, and Closed.
A High or Extreme risk needs an approved management plan before it can be accepted or mitigated. Rescoring it, or redrafting its plan, moves it back to Treating.
Someone other than the plan's author approves it, whatever their role, unless your company allows self-approval. The risk's history shows when the plan was submitted and approved.
Sort by any column that shows an arrow. The whole register is sorted, not only the page you're on. Owner sorting groups each owner's risks together.
The matrix button shows the 5 by 5 matrix, by inherent or residual score. Select a cell to list the risks not yet closed at that level on the same score. The stats count the same way.
Export CSV downloads the risks you can see, with the same labels as the page. It shows for people with a Risk Memory role.

Terms change alerts

On the Growth plan and above, when a contract refers to online terms, Sparko fetches them during the review and checks them again every day. If they change, the change appears on the vendor and in Risk Memory. Anyone who can edit the contract can dismiss it once they have looked.

Playbooks

A playbook holds your position on each clause type: what you prefer, your fallbacks, and your walk-away point.

Every company starts from standard buying positions. They are AI-drafted and not reviewed by a lawyer.
On the Growth plan, write your own positions for buying, selling and partnerships, for all contracts or for one category or company.
Every change is saved as a draft. Reviews only use a position once someone with Approve Playbook Positions approves it. The person who drafted it can't approve it, whatever their role, unless your company allows self-approval. An approved position shows who drafted and who approved it.
Import or export a playbook as a YAML file. Imports come in as drafts.

The Playbooks page has a tab for each kind of contract (Buying, Selling, Partnerships and Employment). Under the tabs, your company playbooks are listed with what each applies to and how many positions are approved or still drafts. Positions a review uses lists the standard positions, with a Company badge on any your own playbook has replaced. Preview for shows which positions apply to a category or entity. Create playbook and Import YAML are at the top. Click a playbook to open it: Rename, Export and Add position are at the top of it.

Legal settings

Admins with Manage Legal Settings set two things here.

Approvals. By default, approving a playbook position, a risk plan or an assessment sign-off takes a second person. Turn on Let people approve their own work if your team is small. Whoever drafted, wrote or ran it can then approve it, as long as they have the approval permission. You're asked to confirm first, and the approval shows as Self-approved. Turning the setting on or off is recorded in the audit log.
Contract visibility. On the Business plan, open non-restricted contracts to everyone who manages contracts, either all of them or by category or company. Restricted contracts are never opened by these settings.

Search

Press ⌘K (or Ctrl+K) anywhere in Legal to search contracts, customers, vendors and partners you can see. You can also click the search field at the top of the page.

On a phone, tap the search icon next to the bell. The top bar turns into a search field, and results drop down over the page. Tap a result to open it, or tap the back arrow to close search.

← north 2 results Northwind MSANorthwind Traders · Renewing Contract Northwind Traders Vendor

The same search icon appears on People pages on a phone, where it searches people, pages and records, and can hand your question to Sparko.

Roles

Four roles come with Legal:

Legal Admin. Everything in Legal, including playbook approval and settings.
Compliance. All contracts, assessments including sign-off, and risks including plan approval.
Contract Manager. Starts reviews, and manages and shares the contracts they own or that are shared with them.
Legal Viewer. Read-only across Legal.

IT Admins can run and sign off vendor assessments, and see software and AI contracts. Every employee can see contracts shared with them.

Still need help? Reach us at [email protected].

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