A headshot of Ken Button.

Ken Button

Ken Button is Co-Founder and CEO of ContractSafe. He has 20+ years of experience as a corporate attorney, general counsel and entrepreneur. He co-founded ContractSafe based on his frustration in trying to find a good, easy-to-use contract organizer. Previously, Ken co-founded Verengo Solar, which he and his partner grew from a start-up to over $100 million in sales, served as general counsel at ePolicy Solutions, which was sold to a subsidiary of ChoicePoint, and practiced law at O’Melveny & Myers and Winston & Strawn. Ken is a member of Young Presidents Organization, and is on the Board of Advisors of the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. On the blog he covers contract law and clauses, compliance and the work of in-house counsel. He received a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law and an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley.

All Recent Posts

How to Tell If You're Buying GDPR-Compliant Contract Management Software - ContractSafe

Quick answer: GDPR-compliant contract management software is a system that keeps contract data where you choose (EU data residency), signs a data processing addendum (DPA) and publishes its...

How to Manage Customer Agreements With a Lean Legal Team - ContractSafe

Managing customer agreements with a lean legal team means building a clear system for what gets signed without your lawyer’s direct review and what doesn’t: standardized templates for routine deals,...

Why ContractSafe Stayed Online Through the PHP Crisis - ContractSafe

Last week, two critical flaws in PHP sent companies across the web into emergency patching, and some well-known SaaS tools went offline to do it. Here's what happened, why ContractSafe customers...

Your 30-Day Roadmap For Implementing a Contract Management System - ContractSafe

Implementing a contract management system doesn't need to be a months-long process of data uploads and training. With the right software and an organized approach, your team can get up and running...

SB 574 Contract Review Rules Every In-House Legal Team Should Know - ContractSafe

Quick answer: SB 574 contract review means following California's new attorney AI law whenever a lawyer uses generative AI to read, extract or draft contract terms. Under the enacted text of SB 574,...

Why Your HR Team Needs a Private Workspace for Contract Management - ContractSafe

Employment agreements carry salary details, equity grants, performance reviews and termination terms that should never be open to other departments, so contract management security matters more in HR...

Post-Signature Contract Management for Obligations, Renewals, Reporting, and Compliance - ContractSafe

Quick answer: Post-signature contract management is everything you do with a contract between the day it's signed and the day it ends. You give each obligation and deliverable a named owner, track...

What Contract Compliance Software Tracks and How to Choose the Right One - ContractSafe

Updated November 2026 Quick answer: Contract compliance tools are software that turns each obligation, notice date and contracted rate in a signed contract into a tracked item with a named owner....

7 Contract Lifecycle Management Challenges Healthcare Organizations Face (and How to Solve Them) - ContractSafe

Updated October 2026 Quick answer: Healthcare contract lifecycle management means running every provider, payer, vendor, equipment and business associate agreement from request through renewal or...

Download the Free Accidental Contract Manager Survival Guide - ContractSafe

Nobody hired you to manage contracts. But somewhere between payroll, the office lease, and the latest vendor renewal, you became the person who knows where every agreement lives, and what happens if...

Dust Features ContractSafe for Running AI Agents Across Every Team - ContractSafe

Dust, the platform companies use to build and share AI agents, just published a customer story about ContractSafe. The story covers how we run our own company, with AI agents working across sales,...

How Does Nonprofit Contract Management Software Track Multi-State Compliance - ContractSafe

Quick answer: Multi-state compliance tracking in nonprofit contract management software is a record for every state registration (the deadline, required forms, supporting documents, and the person...

What to Test in a Demo Before You Automate Your Contract Management Workflow - ContractSafe

Quick answer: Contract management workflow automation is software that moves a contract along its path so a person doesn't have to: it routes drafts to the right reviewers, chases approvers who go...

featured contract compliance tracking

Quick answer: Contract compliance tracking is the practice of monitoring whether post-signature obligations are met on time. It keeps deliverables, payment schedules, and regulatory requirements on...

featured payer contract management

Quick answer: Payer contract management is the ongoing work of tracking, organizing, and acting on the agreements between a healthcare provider and the insurers who pay that provider for patient...

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Quick answer: Contract management trends in 2026 are the recurring patterns in how teams draft, sign, organize, monitor and renew agreements, and the numbers behind them show where agreements create...

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Updated November 2026 Home › Blog › Contract Repository Quick answer: A contract repository is one secure, searchable home for every signed agreement. It also tracks each contract's dates and terms,...

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Quick answer: A contract repository is a centralized, secure system where a company stores, organizes, searches and actively manages every contract it has signed, so there's one source of truth...

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Home › Blog › Best Contract Management Software In this guide What is contract management software? Best contract management software compared (2026) How to choose contract management software Full...

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Quick answer: The best contract management software is the system everyone who touches a contract actually uses, not only legal: it handles requests and approvals before signature, keeps every signed...

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Quick answer: Contract management KPIs are the numbers that tell you whether contracts are moving, renewing, surfacing when someone needs them, and turning into action after signing. For a lean team,...

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Quick answer: Contract repository best practices are the operating rules that keep signed agreements searchable, trustworthy, secure, and tied to the next action after upload. A repository without...

What Is a Contract Repository? The 2026 Guide for Legal Teams - ContractSafe

Updated November 2026 Quick answer: A contract repository is a secure, searchable system that holds your signed contracts along with their renewal dates, notice terms and owners, and records who did...

The Contract Management Metrics That Actually Tell You Something - ContractSafe

Quick answer: Contract management KPIs are the numbers legal, finance, procurement, and operations teams use to track how contracts move through drafting, signing, and renewal, showing what’s on...

Contract Obligation Tracking Is the Job Nobody Owns. It's Also Where 11% of Your Value Disappears. - ContractSafe

Quick answer: Contract obligation management is the process of tracking, assigning, and completing the promises a company makes after a contract is signed. A signed contract works a lot like a recipe...

30 Top Contract Management Trends & Stats You Need To Know in 2026 - ContractSafe

Quick answer: Legal contract management trends are the practical shifts in how legal, finance, and procurement teams use contract management software to create, store, track, and act on agreements...

Every Contract Tells a Story in Numbers. These Are the 2026 Statistics Worth Knowing. - ContractSafe

Quick answer: Contract management statistics for 2026 are the numbers that show how contracts move through the business, where work slows down, and where missed dates or incomplete records create...

What the Survival Clause Reveals About How NDAs Actually Work - ContractSafe

Quick answer: NDA vs confidentiality agreement is usually a wording difference rather than a legal category difference. Both documents protect confidential information from improper disclosure, and...

The Contract That Renewed Itself While Nobody Was Watching - ContractSafe

Quick answer: An auto-renewal clause is contract language that says your agreement keeps going for another term unless someone sends a proper cancellation notice before the current term runs out. It...

If Your Force Majeure Clause Is Boilerplate, That’s a Problem - ContractSafe

Quick answer: A force majeure clause is contract language that may excuse or delay performance when an extraordinary event outside a party’s control prevents the contract from being performed. A...

What to Expect From 2026 Compliance Reviews & How Contract Visibility Helps - ContractSafe

Quick answer: Contract compliance reviews are audits or internal checks that test whether your contracts are approved, current, documented, searchable and managed according to policy. The signed PDF...

How to Write a Contract, and What Most People Leave Out - ContractSafe

Quick answer: Knowing how to write a contract means knowing how to turn a business deal into clear obligations, rights, deadlines and remedies that both sides understand before anyone signs. Most...

What Is a Mutual NDA? What's a One-Way NDA? What's the Difference? - ContractSafe

Quick answer: The difference between a mutual NDA and a one-way NDA is the direction confidential information flows. A one-way NDA protects a single disclosing party, and a mutual NDA protects both...

What Is a Statement of Work (SOW) Contract, and What Does It Define? - ContractSafe

Quick answer: A statement of work (SOW) is the project contract that spells out exactly what's being delivered, when, how much it costs and how everyone agrees it's done. It usually sits under a...

MSA vs. SOW: How Do Master Service Agreement Differ From Scope of Work Contracts? - ContractSafe

Quick answer: MSA vs SOW is the difference between a master service agreement, which sets the rules for the whole relationship, and a statement of work, which defines one specific project. A...

How Procurement and Legal Remove Contracting Friction in 2026 - ContractSafe

Procurement legal collaboration is the shared contract process where buying context, legal review, risk terms, and ownership stay connected. Think of it like a relay race where the contract is the...

Contract Volume vs Contract Complexity: Getting It Right as Your Team Grows - ContractSafe

Contract volume vs contract complexity is the difference between how many agreements your team has to process and how much judgment, risk, and follow-up each agreement requires. Those sound like...

Every Government Contract Is a Public Record. Can Your Agency Find Yours? - ContractSafe

Government contract management is the process of storing, tracking, searching, and managing public-sector agreements after approval. Think of it like a public filing room with a clock. The file only...

The Effective Date Is the Most Important Date in Your Contract. It’s Also the One Most People Get Wrong - ContractSafe

A contract effective date is the date when contract rights, obligations, timelines, fees, and deadlines begin. Think of it like the starting line. The signature may happen nearby, but the contract...

Vendor Contract Audits Always Find Something. Most Companies Never Look. - ContractSafe

A vendor contract audit is a reality check on signed agreements: do the contracts, dates, owners, obligations, amendments, and payment terms in your system match what the business is actually using...

Contract Administration vs. Contract Management: How To Go from Administrating to Truly Managing Your Contract Portfolio - ContractSafe

You have contracts. Probably hundreds of them, maybe thousands, tucked into shared drives and email threads and (let's be honest) somebody's desk drawer. That's contract administration. It's the...

Contract Management Software: The Smart Guide to Getting It Right in 2026 - ContractSafe

You've got contracts everywhere. In email threads, on someone's desktop, maybe in a folder labeled "FINAL_v3_REAL." And every one of those contracts holds obligations, deadlines, and money you're...

The Parts of a Contract: Understanding Contract Clauses (and Why Every Word Matters) - ContractSafe

You signed it. Probably didn't read every line. (Don't worry, according to a 2024 Deloitte survey, 73% of business professionals admit they skim contracts before signing.) But those paragraphs you...

What Is a Contract? (And Why It's Not the Same as an Agreement) - ContractSafe

You probably use "contract" and "agreement" like they're synonyms. Most people do. But that casual swap can cost you real money and real headaches, because the legal world draws a sharp,...

CIRCIA compliance is often framed as a cybersecurity or IT challenge. In reality, many organizations will fall out of compliance for a simpler reason: their vendor contracts don’t require timely...

Most teams don’t lose visibility into contracts all at once; it happens gradually. Shared, role-based contract access is what keeps the whole team looking at the same pipeline. A contract sits in...

AI contract review tool scanning a document for key clauses and compliance issues

Contract review is one of the most time-consuming parts of the legal workflow, and one of the easiest places for risk to hide. As contract volumes increase and timelines shrink, legal teams are...

The Hidden HIPAA Risks of Outdated BAAs graphic

Outdated Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) are one of the most overlooked sources of HIPAA exposure for healthcare organizations. When BAAs go unreviewed for years, they often fail to reflect...

Financial services contract compliance and audit trail illustration

So, you work in financial services. That means you are operating in an environment where precision, trust, and reputation aren’t optional—they’re the whole production. While the regulatory landscape...

How Contract Management Software Directly Impacts Your Bottom Line

Most people treat contract management like paperwork. In reality, it’s a financial system that shapes everything from cash flow to compliance exposure. Contract management software directly impacts...

consulting agreement

A consultant can be a game-changer for your business, providing specialized expertise and fresh perspectives. However, consulting agreements can be tricky to create and manage. You need to define...

Every organization hits the same audit wall at some point: half the information lives in someone’s inbox, the other half is in a shared drive from 2018, and no one can say for sure whether the vendor...

7 Best Practices for Managing Contract Renewals Efficiently

Updated November 2026 Quick answer: Contract renewal is the point where an agreement rolls into a new term, often at a new price, unless someone acts before the notice deadline. To manage renewals...

The role of contract visibility in corporate valuation

You're in a due diligence meeting. An investor asks, "Can you prove your recurring revenue for the next 24 months and show us any contracts with non-standard liability caps?" Yikes. The answer is in...

how to guide for auditing contract clauses

You can’t manage what you can’t see. Most companies can’t see what’s in their contracts. Imagine your CEO just asked for the liability cap in a vendor contract from three years ago… You know it’s...

Discover how contract management software boosts efficiency, reduces risk, and streamlines business operations across industries. Core advantages of contract management software for business Contract...

Healthcare contract lifecycle management folder, deadline, and access control illustration

Healthcare contract lifecycle management is the work of creating, signing, storing, tracking, and acting on every agreement a healthcare organization runs on: provider and physician contracts, payer...

The essential elements of a contract are the six components that make it legally binding. Without these six essential elements, a contract is just like any other document — but when it includes all...

Automate Contract Management | ContractSafe

Summer's finally here! Time for some well-deserved rest, right? Well, maybe for some, but for many of us, especially when it comes to managing agreements, things can actually heat up. With more...

Quick answer: Contract lifecycle management (CLM) is the process of managing an agreement from request and creation through review, approval, signature, storage, renewal and termination. Keeping...

Moving away from spreadsheets for effective contract managment

Many businesses start their contract management journey with a familiar friend: the humble spreadsheet. It's accessible, customizable, and what most of us know. Let’s face it, as your contract volume...

Managing Tariff Changes with Contract Management Software | ContractSafe

Tariffs are shaking things up, and businesses are feeling it. New trade policies can throw a wrench into import/export agreements, pricing, and compliance, making effective contract management more...

end user license agreement

Sharing your software with the world is exciting, but protecting your intellectual property and clearly setting clear usage boundaries is critical. That's where an End User License Agreement (EULA)...

The Ultimate HIPAA Compliance Checklist

Quick answer: A HIPAA compliance checklist lists what a covered entity or business associate has to do, and be able to prove, under the Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules. Confirm HIPAA...

The termination of a contract marks the end of a legally binding agreement before its intended conclusion. This can happen for various reasons, from simple mutual agreements to more complex scenarios...

licensing agreement template

Licensing agreements are the foundation of collaboration, from tech giants striking deals to indie artists sharing their creations. But crafting a solid licensing agreement template can be tricky —...

business associate agreement template

Safeguarding patient health information isn't just a priority - it's a legal obligation. Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) are essential for safeguarding patient health information in today's...

2024 year in review

As the year comes to a close, we're excited to share the innovative features we've brought to ContractSafe this year. Whether you're looking to gain better visibility into your contracts, automate...

What a Service Agreement Covers and How to Write One

Updated October 2026 Quick answer: A service agreement, or service contract, is a legally binding contract between a client and a provider. It sets out the work, the price, the timeline, who owns the...

M&A due diligence is thoroughly investigating a target company's financial, legal, and operational status before finalizing an acquisition. It involves reviewing financial records, contracts, legal...

non disclosure agreement overview

A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) serves as a shield, protecting trade secrets, client data, and other valuable intellectual property. Whether you're a startup sharing your innovative ideas with...

it contract management

IT contacts are the lifeblood of any modern organization. From software licenses to cloud services, data privacy agreements and vendor agreements, these contracts govern how businesses acquire, use,...

independent contractor agreement

Disclaimer: This template is a starting point, not a substitute for legal advice. Always consult an attorney before finalizing any services agreement. Hiring independent contractors can be great if...

commercial lease agreement template

Disclaimer: This template is a starting point, not a substitute for legal advice. Always consult an attorney before finalizing any lease agreement. Commercial lease agreements can be complex, but...

contract management statistics

Contracts bind, guide, and set the pace for every transaction, partnership, and agreement in the business world. But as the landscape evolves, so does the art and science of effective contract...

A Guide to Commercial Contracts and Trade Agreements

Updated September 2026 Quick answer: A commercial contract is a private, legally binding agreement between businesses, such as a supply agreement, a license or an NDA. A trade agreement is a treaty...

Agreement vs Contract and What Makes One Legally Binding

Updated October 2026 Quick answer: An agreement is a mutual understanding between two or more parties about what each will do. Legally, it means mutual assent: both sides accept the same terms. That...

Ready to upgrade your Contract Management Software, but struggling to get budget buy-in? Getting approval for contract management tools is about to get a whole lot easier. Why Watch the Webinar You...

How Small Businesses Can Use Contract Analytics To Drive Growth

Did you know there's a treasure trove of useful contract data hiding right in plain sight? It's data that can unlock new avenues for growth, streamline operations, and even give you a competitive...

retail contract management

In the bustling aisles of the retail world, every agreement — from supplier deals to your inventory management SaaS contract — has an impact on your business. And effective contract management is...

contract audit best practices graphic

By adopting a strategic approach to contract audits, businesses can unlock a wealth of insights that streamline contract management processes, cut costs, and foster stronger partnerships. The word...

scaling contract management processes animated image

Scaling contract management processes means your contract approach works as volume and complexity grow — without manual bottlenecks or risk. It depends on centralized visibility, clear ownership,...

Best Contract Management Software 2024

There are a lot of contract management solutions out there. And their differences aren’t always clear. However, ContractSafe stands out as a top choice for its ease of use and affordability. How do...

6 Time-Saving Strategies for Small Business Contract Management

Quick answer: Organizing contracts for a small business means deciding where every agreement lives, how it's named and categorized, how long it's kept and who can open it. To organize contracts,...

Contract folders flowing to a balanced scale and checklist

Legal contract management is the practice of keeping every signed agreement in one searchable place, tracking the key dates and obligations inside each one, and putting each contract within reach of...

contract administrator handing off a contract to a contract manager

Quick answer: Contract administration is the day-to-day work of making sure a signed contract gets carried out: tracking obligations and deadlines, keeping the record, processing changes, checking...

Illustration of a contract being built as a part of contract change management.

Contract change management is a bit like renovating a house. You start with a signed agreement that made sense at the time. But businesses evolve, markets shift, regulations change, and suddenly the...

contract management statistics

Contracts bind, guide, and set the pace for every transaction, partnership, and agreement in the business world. But as the landscape evolves, so does the art and science of effective contract...

saas-contract-management

Welcome to the world of SaaS contracts, where technology meets law in a thrilling saga of codes, clauses, and cloud-based solutions. These aren't your grandpa's paper contracts neatly filed in a...

contract negotiations

Contract negotiation might not be as glamorous as the high-stakes games played out on the silver screen, but its importance cannot be overstated. It's an intricate dance of discussion and compromise...

Managed Care Contract Management and the Payer Terms Healthcare Teams Should Track - ContractSafe

Managed care contract management is the ongoing work of tracking and acting on the terms inside your payer agreements after both sides sign. It covers fee schedules, amendment notices, renewal...

What is privacy compliance?

Much like the recent rise of the gig economy, generative AI, and air fryers, we’re in a watershed moment in privacy compliance. Lots of states have enforced new data privacy regulations in 2023....

Quick answer: You manage contract risk by spotting the likely problems in each agreement early (a missed renewal, a vague clause, a compliance gap), giving each one an owner and putting a simple...

Even the smallest leak could turn a fun day on the water into an unexpected scuba diving session if you’re not prepared. And contract management is no different. Knowing the value of your contracts,...

We’re headed to Vegas! We’re excited to attend #CLOC2023 this year! It’s our first time attending, but we’re ready to make a splash. Stop by Booth #248 to put ContractSafe to the test. To show you...

A Beginner’s Guide to Managing Contracts Effectively

Updated November 2026 Quick answer: Managing contracts means running every agreement through six stages, with one owner and one home for each. To build that from scratch, take inventory and write the...

HIPAA. Just saying it will send chills down the spines of healthcare legal teams across the United States. If this is your first run-in with it, though, it stands for the Health Insurance Portability...

The 37 Essential Types of Business Contracts to Know

Updated October 2026 Quick answer: A business contract, also called a business agreement, is a legally enforceable agreement that sets out who owes what, by when, and what happens if someone doesn't...

What is an MSA?

A master service agreement (MSA) is a little like that go-to board game you bring out when old friends come around for game night. It’s always there for you. You know what to expect. And it gives you...

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