Accordion, a financial consulting firm specializing in services for the Office of the CFO, operates in a high-growth, private equity-backed environment. As a result of this rapid growth, the legal team faced an increasing volume of contracts requiring review. Johnny Moustis, Associate General Counsel at Accordion, along with his lean legal team, had to manage a high volume of contracts, including NDAs, MSAs, SOWs, vendor agreements, and other third-party contracts. Efficiency and accuracy were critical, yet the manual contract review process was time-consuming and created bottlenecks, making it difficult to scale legal operations without increasing headcount or relying on costly outside counsel.

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Searching for the right AI solution

As part of its broader initiative to implement AI across the business, Accordion sought a solution that would streamline contract reviews, ensure consistency in redlining, and reduce reliance on external legal resources. The goal was to improve turnaround time, mitigate risks, and allow the legal team to focus on higher-value work.

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While several AI-driven legal tools were available, Accordion selected Ivo as its vendor of choice because it does more than the typical tools on the market that simply summarize documents; it can redline like a human and save the Accordion team precious time. 

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Choosing Ivo: accuracy, usability, and legal expertise

After evaluating multiple vendors, Accordion selected Ivo as its AI-powered contract redlining tool. The decision was largely driven by Ivo’s usability, accuracy, and the fact that it was designed largely by Min-Kyu Jung, CEO of Ivo, who was also a former lawyer who understood not just contract law but also how lawyers think and act to redline agreements.

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Ivo’s ability to function as an AI-powered legal colleague, offering intelligent drafting suggestions and redlining capabilities, set it apart. Additionally, its ability to align third-party agreements with Accordion’s internal playbooks provided an added advantage.

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Measurable time and cost savings with Ivo 

The Accordion legal team worked closely with Ivo’s team to ensure a smooth onboarding experience. With minimal upfront effort, the team was able to begin leveraging Ivo almost immediately, refining processes along the way.

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Since adopting Ivo, Accordion has seen significant improvements in efficiency, including:

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• 221 hours saved in 6 months
• $132,000 saved in legal costs
• 349 total contracts reviewed
• Time per contract review reduced by an average of 20-45 minutes

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Ivo has enabled Accordion’s legal team to handle a higher volume of contracts without additional headcount. The tool not only speeds up contract reviews but also achieves consistency in language and compliance with internal guidelines.

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Beyond time savings: the strategic impact

By automating routine contract review tasks, Ivo has freed up Accordion’s legal team to focus on higher-value initiatives, including:

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• Reducing reliance on outside counsel, resulting in significant cost savings.
• Enhancing negotiation power by ensuring contracts are aligned with best practices.
• Providing a built-in training tool for new legal team members, allowing them to quickly understand key contractual risks and playbook standards.

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"It’s like having a legal colleague to bounce ideas off of."

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Additionally, Ivo’s continuous improvements—including its user-friendly interface and AI-powered analytics—have made it an evolving asset for Accordion’s legal operations.

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Looking ahead: expanding AI in legal workflows

Accordion is now exploring additional AI-powered legal solutions, such as contract analytics tools, to further enhance efficiency. The team is also working on expanding Ivo’s playbooks to cover more contract types and streamline ongoing updates to their legal processes.

Moustis offers this simple advice for legal departments evaluating AI-driven contract review solutions:

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"If you need to save time, then you need this tool. If you love time savings, you’ll love Ivo."

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Ivo has proven to be a game-changer for Accordion’s legal team, optimizing contract workflows, responding quickly to a rapidly growing business, reducing costs, and allowing the team to focus on more strategic legal work. By leveraging AI to handle some of the tedious aspects of contract review, Accordion has positioned itself for sustained growth and operational efficiency in an increasingly complex business environment.