Streamlining by scanning and reengineering (leases at Food Lion)

Leases, sub-leases and appurtenant legal documents weigh heavily on the law department of a 1200-store supermarket chain. At Food Lion, lease documents had to be reviewed by several groups and physically routed during a process that was manual and could consume two crucial weeks.

Its inside lawyers, however, working with the company’s primary outside law firm, Akin Gump, devised a streamlined approach using scanners, standardized sub-lease term sheets, remote access by they various groups involved, and e-mail integration. “What once took two weeks now takes only two days.” (Counsel to Counsel, July 2005 at pg. 5)