Céline Tremblais is a lawyer and founder of French law firm Legal Insight. Founded in 2017, the firm specializes in assisting developing and high-growth companies and supports the founders, partners and investors of innovative startups and SMEs.
As a user of Closd’s legal operations management solution for over a year, she agreed to tell us more about the benefits of the platform in organizing electronic signature sessions, and the productivity gains and expected return on investment.
“The investment was completely worth it within the first month of use, because the time saved in organizing the closing process is really significant. I’ve been able to increase the number of transactions, and consequently gain in speed of execution.”
Céline Tremblais
Closd: Could you please introduce yourself and your firm?
Céline Tremblais : My name is Céline Tremblais, and I’m a private equity and corporate lawyer. I mainly work on fund-raising, acquisition or takeover projects, which involve several signing/closing phases and the organization of signing sessions with a large number of signatories. For this reason, I needed a solution that would enable me to coordinate, group and organize all the signatories at the same time.
What were the main issues before adopting Closd?
I was already using electronic signature solutions before the pandemic, but with the Covid crisis, digital closing has really accelerated, and is now a well-established practice.
Before that, customers were already reluctant to come to the lawyers’ offices to sign 500-page thick files, which for us was also quite complicated to organize logistically and made us lose a lot of time preparing signature versions, not to mention the amount of paper used to reproduce all those documents. Digitizing closings has simplified and accelerated deal execution. Many customers have become used to it, and find it hard to go back to a purely paper-based solution.
Aujourd’hui, ma pratique est quasi exclusivement digitale ; au cours de ces 5 dernières années, j’ai dû réaliser deux actes reliés. Cela fait maintenant partie de mon fonctionnement, je ne me pose même plus la question et les clients non plus. La pratique est même désormais hybride, c’est-à-dire que nous nous réunissons physiquement pour le closing mais signons électroniquement via Closd.
Today, my practice is almost exclusively paperless. I don’t even think about it anymore, and neither do my customers. Our practice is now even hybrid, meaning that we meet physically for the closing but sign electronically via Closd.
Why did you choose the platform?
The electronic signature solutions I was using before the pandemic were rather limited in terms of functionality, and not mature enough to carry out a dematerialized closing in an organized way. I still use them as a complement to Closd for simple or single documents with few signatories. But when I need to centralize all documents in one place, or allow several people to interact on the same documents and sign in chronological order, I switch directly to Closd.
I like to use Closd when there are a lot of signatories to coordinate and a lot of documents to sign, bearing in mind that on fund-raising projects there can be as many as ten or even twenty signatories. What’s great is that I can track the progress of the signing session at a glance, because all the information is gathered in one place, and my customers, as project managers, can also see the progress of the signing session and follow up with the signatories themselves. It’s a real time-saver for everyone.
Which functions do you use the most?
Most of my customers really enjoy the electronic signature, as it allows them to centralize everything in one place, and download the documents themselves.
I also really like the feature that allows me to schedule signatures: for example, I can launch a signing session tomorrow or in two days’ time. This sometimes allows me to close several files at the same time! If I’m not available to organize a signing, that’s no longer a problem, because I can schedule it the day before to start at 8am the next day, for example, and launch two signings at the same time. This really allows you to organize your schedule and always meet your deadlines, whatever happens, instead of waiting in front of a screen on the D-day. You can also order documents and create stages in the signing session.
The delayed signature feature is extremely efficient. For me, it’s a real time-saver that helps me get better organized.
I’ve also used the data room functionality, which has worked well for fund-raising and company transfers. I’ve found it quite easy to use, because as with conventional data room solutions, you can grant individualized access to documents for each auditor or group of auditors. I also make occasional use of the calendar (closing checklist).
The fact that everything is brought together in a single transaction and that a closing binder can be generated automatically, is a tremendous time-saver for me. I can already organize the titles well in advance, so my binder is almost ready, and all I have to do is download it. It’s an incredible time-saver.
Are your clients and contacts satisfied with the platform?
I find the platform pretty straightforward. Some people still have a bit of trouble finding their login details, but once they’re connected, everything works pretty well, and I’ve had no trouble getting them to sign on Closd. On the contrary, identification works rather well compared with other solutions, which are sometimes more complicated, especially when it comes to recognizing certain forms of identification.
What’s more, support is ultra-reactive, so if I run into a problem with the identification of a signatory I know well, and I’m able to confirm his or her identity, we can quickly resolve the situation. I’ve already found myself in a closing where I had to validate identity documents immediately, and this didn’t delay the closing by more than 10 minutes.
It’s very comfortable to have a support team that answers all technical questions. Compared to other platforms, they’re the most responsive!
“The return on investment is clearly positive today, I really don’t regret adopting the solution, and I don’t think I’d know what to do without it!”
What is your assessment? What do you see as the platform’s strengths?
I was a bit reluctant when I first started out, because of the cost per month and per signature. In reality, I think the investment paid for itself in the first month of use, because the time saved in organizing the closing process is really quite significant. I’ve been able to increase the number of transactions I’ve carried out, and make significant gains in terms of speed of execution. I didn’t think Closd would enable me to do that.
It’s also a gain in terms of invoicing, because it allows you to close faster and therefore invoice faster. Our customers are delighted with this speed.
The return on investment is clearly positive today, I really don’t regret having adopted the solution, and I don’t think I could do without it!
Thanks to Mrs Tremblais for her valuable testimonial.
Schedule your demo now to find out more about the Closd platform!
