Playbooks Overview

Playbooks convert firm standards and precedent into operational review rules. Define your preferred positions, fallback language, and red flags once—then apply them across every agreement in a document set. This standardizes how your team triages and discusses contract risk without losing deal-specific judgment.

This video shows how to create and configure Playbooks for your firm.

Core Components

Each playbook rule captures three elements:

• Preferred position: Your firm's target language or risk posture for a given clause.

• Fallback language: Acceptable alternatives when preferred terms are unavailable.

• Flags: Terms or patterns that require legal attention or escalation.

Together, these elements structure consistent first-pass review. Escalate flagged items for attorney judgment where needed.

Creating Effective Rules

1. Start with representative precedent: Pull from prior deals, templates, and exemplar agreements.

2. Define what's acceptable: Identify what is acceptable, what is fallback, and what should be escalated.

3. Make rules testable: Keep rule language specific enough to be evaluated in review.

4. Review before publishing: Validate generated rules before rolling out to broader teams.

5. Update as positions evolve: Keep rules current as firm positions change.

Creating a Playbook

There are two ways to create a Playbook. Use AI generation for speed; use manual creation for precise control.

Method A: Generate via AI

Method B: Build Manually

Applying Playbooks in Review

Apply playbooks to recurring agreements to check alignment with firm standards:

1. Select the playbook and the document set to review.

2. August evaluates each document against your defined positions.

3. Results show where terms match preferred language, where fallback applies, and what needs escalation.

4. Focus legal judgment on flagged items rather than re-reading every clause.

This supports faster first-pass review across high-volume document sets. Playbooks help standardize how teams triage and discuss contract risk. Final decisions remain with legal reviewers.

Using Playbooks with the Word Add-In

Playbooks can be applied directly in the Microsoft Word Add-in:

1. Open your document in Word.

2. In the August sidebar, select the playbook to apply.

3. August reviews the document against your standards and proposes edits as tracked changes.

4. Accept, reject, or modify each suggestion.

This supports in-document review against firm standards without leaving drafting context. Validate suggested changes before acceptance.

Best Practices

• Start with your strongest precedents: Use well-negotiated agreements as the foundation.

• Keep rules specific: Vague rules produce vague results. "Liability cap should not exceed 12 months of fees" is better than "limit liability."

• Separate concerns: Create separate playbooks for NDAs, MSAs, settlement agreements, and other document types.

• Iterate based on use: Refine rules as you discover edge cases in live reviews.

• Version your playbooks: Keep track of changes so you can trace which version was applied to which matter.

When to Use Playbooks

Use playbooks when:

• You're reviewing large productions with recurring document types

• You manage a portfolio of similar agreements requiring consistent treatment

• You want to standardize how junior attorneys approach first-pass review

• You need to apply firm-wide positions across multiple deals simultaneously

What to Read Next

• Assistant Overview to generate playbooks from precedent

• Word Add-In to apply playbooks in documents

• Tabular Review for structured comparison across document sets