Challenge
A commercial bank outsources all new commercial real estate lending documentation to outside counsel. Facing budget pressure, they need a way to cut costs without overburdening their legal team.
Approach
A small Axiom team structures a two-phase project to create a comprehensive commercial real estate playbook and guide the business team on the new process. First, Axiom reviewed historical loan closing materials to create easy to understand templates on all aspects of loan closings. Second, a seasoned Axiom lawyer led presentations for four operational divisions (sales, underwriting, servicing, secondary marketing) to educate them on the new playbook without relying on costly law firm support.
Impact
- Reallocated ~200 loan closings per year, ranging in size from $8 million to $50 million, from outside law firms to internal legal and business teams.
- Created standardized user-friendly templates on real estate matters such as mortgage deeds, promissory notes, recourse guarantees, environmental, indemnification, insurance, etc.
- Redistributed $3.5 million in annual law firm spend back to in-house legal team.
