Gilbert + Tobin, led by Corporate Advisory partner John Williamson-Noble, was delighted to be a part of a global Steering Committee on a fantastic project led by oneNDA to create a standardised Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).

The project is UK-based The Law Boutique’s (TLB) brainchild, prompted by systematic feedback that NDAs were an onerous contract process, ripe for standardisation across the legal industry. After five months of collaboration, oneNDA template was created; a simplified and easily accessible NDA template for businesses that reduces legal work and increases the speed and transparency of commercial deals. The NDA template (which is available free at the oneNDA website) is expected to be used as an industry standard document on typical commercial deals. Standard NDAs for M+A and more complex deals are in the pipe-line.

The steering committee included other top tier law firms Slaughter and May, Freshfields, Ashurst, Linklaters, Allen& Overy and Norton Rose together with representatives from major companies including Coca Cola European Partners, Barclays, Airbus and Deliveroo . More than 1000 organisations have signed up to access the document.

John Williamson-Noble commented on this stating “The collaboration on this project, across national borders, was extraordinary to see in action. It resulted in a tight, focussed document which should save in-house teams and law firms considerable time and expense in negotiating documents which contribute very little to the bottom line.”