Lawyers want in earlier, we’re making that possible
From silos to synergy: How pre-deal collaboration is transforming the deal process. Chief Customer Officer Kristine Boin, Virtual Vaults, discusses.
In dealmaking, timing is everything, but alignment is what truly makes or breaks a transaction.
The real problem we see every week
While digital tools have reshaped how M&A deals are executed, many advisors still struggle with a fundamental issue: how to keep corporate finance, legal, and other stakeholders perfectly aligned from day one. At Virtual Vaults, we believe that solving this challenge requires more than just a secure Virtual Data Room (VDR) it requires a shift in how we prepare for deals altogether.
Too often, legal advisors are brought in too late. This creates unnecessary friction, duplication of work, and pressure during the most sensitive stages of a transaction. The same applies to tax specialists, ESG consultants, and technical Due Diligence (DD) teams. Everyone wants to be involved earlier but the tools and workflows don’t always support that.
The fix: prepare together in one place
That’s why we built Virtual Vaults Workspaces: a secure, structured, and collaborative environment for preparing deals before the VDR ever goes live. Think of it as a digital headquarters for deal preparation. Corporate finance advisors, lawyers, and other experts can work together from the very beginning: collecting data, structuring information, assigning tasks, and tracking readiness across stakeholders. In short, we’re turning decentralized deal preparation into a controlled, shared process without compromising speed or security.
What makes this shift so powerful?
1. Real-time alignment
With Workspaces, legal teams no longer have to catch up; they help shape the structure from the start. Comments, tasks, and statuses are all visible. You’re not working in parallel you’re working side-by-side.
2. Smarter transition to the data room
Once preparation is complete, the relevant deal documents can be exported seamlessly to the VDR. That means fewer surprises, less double work, and a VDR that’s ready to go live in hours, not days.
3. AI-Powered efficiency
Tools like our AI Redaction Assistant help speed up compliance and reduce manual work, while maintaining full control over sensitive data. Advisors stay ahead especially in tight timelines and limited budgets.
4. A better client experience
Entrepreneurs and deal teams are tired of chaotic information requests and unclear status updates. With Workspaces, they gain clarity, structure, and confidence without needing to juggle emails and shared drives.
Collaboration doesn’t stop at the VDR
Crucially, the collaboration that begins in Workspaces continues in the VDR. Our platform supports shared leadership between legal and financial advisors during due diligence, so there’s no confusion about who owns what.
Permissions, Q&A workflows, access controls, and responsibilities are clearly defined and customizable allowing both sides to stay in control, together. This eliminates the classic “tug-of-war” over the lead and replaces it with true co-leadership focused on one shared outcome: a smooth, professional, and successful transaction.
Whether legal takes the lead on compliance, or corporate finance steers commercial priorities, both can work in sync, fully informed, fully aligned, and fully empowered.
Faster closing. Total oversight.
What often gets overlooked is the end of the deal: the closing phase. Traditionally, compiling final archives for each party involved (buyers, lawyers, sellers, advisors), costs teams hours of manual work and coordination. That’s why we’ve automated this process. At the end of a deal, Virtual Vaults generates customized Closing Archives for each stakeholder, based on their specific access rights during the deal. Each archive is accompanied by a comfort letter for audit and compliance purposes, saving legal teams and clients countless hours, and significantly reducing costs. It’s closing, without the chaos.
Lead the process, don’t react to it
As the dealmaking landscape evolves, the most effective advisors will be those who lead the process not just react to it. This means breaking down the traditional silos between finance and legal and embracing new tools that support smarter collaboration.
At Virtual Vaults, we’re proud to support tens of thousands of M&A teams across Europe in doing just that. From mid-market specialists to global law firms, the message is clear: the future of dealmaking isn’t just digital progressions like AI, it’s aligned: driving better outcomes through connected people, process, and technology.
Less noise. More deals. No surprises.
Visit Virtual Vaults to learn more.
This article was originally published on Insider Media on September 8th 2025.