Process for Legal Review and Clearance of Agreements
Operating units should plan for a 30 day process when submitting agreements to the Office of the Assistant General Counsel for Administration (AGC/Admin) for review. This timeframe encompasses the exchange of questions/comments, revising information, and working with the partner’s counsel to resolve any legal issues if required. Generally, legal review and clearance can be accomplished within ten working days if the agreement package is properly prepared and includes all relevant information. Using the model templates and adhering to the checklists prepared by this office will facilitate proper preparation of an agreement package. There are times when the legal review process exceeds 30 days and that can happen when questions asked by the reviewing attorney are not addressed in a timely manner or when the reviewing attorney is engaged in prolonged negotiations with the partner’s counsel. AGC/Admin cannot finalize its review until all questions have been addressed.
Any agreement that involves an assisted acquisition must receive preliminary review from the Contract Law Division prior to being transmitted to AGC/Admin for final review and clearance.
Each fiscal year, AGC/Admin reviews well over two thousand agreements department-wide. We strive to provide legal review and clearance of agreements as expeditiously as possible without compromising the sufficiency of our legal review. There are variables, however, that factor into the clearance process. Therefore, we urge each operating unit to incorporate legal review time into the agreement planning process. The chart below provides action and time guidelines for your reference.
|
Action |
Responsible Party |
|
Transmit Agreement to OGC/Admin |
Operating Unit Program Office |
|
Within 24 hours of receiving a formal agreement review assignment, email the program office to acknowledge receipt of the agreement. |
AGC/Admin reviewing attorney |
|
Within 5 business days of receiving the agreement, provide initial email to program office with comments on the agreement.[1] |
AGC/Admin reviewing attorney |
|
Within 5 business days of receiving a response from the program office, provide second level comments or advise the program office when the recommended clearance memorandum will be forwarded for final review.[2] |
AGC/Admin reviewing attorney |
[1] This presumes the reviewing attorney is in the office for 5 consecutive days after receiving the agreement. This 5 day period may be adjusted for agreements requiring expedited review.
[2] To the extent that additional follow-up is required; this timeframe will be followed by OGC-Admin for subsequent comment levels. Our ability to finalize review is dependent, in large part, upon the timeliness of the responses we receive from the program office.