Arbiter: From the Other Side

When you send a contract through DocJuris Arbiter, your counterparty receives a streamlined guest experience — enough to review and mark up the contract, but with key limitations that keep you in control of the negotiation. Understanding what the other side can and cannot do helps you use Arbiter strategically.

What the Counterparty Can Do

Guest collaborators have access to a limited version of the Contract Editor. Here's what's available to them:

• View the contract — Full read access to all sections, including any sections you've locked
• Edit unlocked sections — Insert, delete, and format text (bold, italic, underline, small caps, all caps, indent/unindent) within sections you have not locked
• Leave comments — Add section-level and inline comments, with the option to mark them as Internal (visible only to their team) or External (visible to you)
• Reply to comments — Respond to incoming comments from your side to facilitate discussion
• Use Find & Replace — Search for specific language and replace single or all instances, with options for case matching and whole-word matching
• Navigate with Areas — If you've set up Areas for the contract, the counterparty can use them to jump to specific sections
• View Defined Terms — Access the list of defined terms within the contract
• Add team members — Invite colleagues to collaborate on the contract and designate whether they can return it
• Return the contract — Send the contract back to you when their review is complete (if they have return authority)

What the Counterparty Cannot Do

The guest experience is intentionally limited to give you document control and a strategic advantage throughout the negotiation:

• No access to your Playbook — The counterparty cannot see your Playbook, Issues, Positions, or any of your organization's pre-defined negotiation strategies
• No access to AI Commands — Features like Make it Mutual, Simplify, Balance the Terms, Make Favorable To, and Markup with a Prompt are not available to guest users
• No access to Smart Markups — Your organization's pre-built clause library and automated markup suggestions remain entirely hidden
• No editing of locked sections — Any sections you lock before sending will appear as read-only to the counterparty, ensuring your finalized language stays intact
• No visibility into your internal comments — Comments marked as Internal on your side are never visible to the counterparty, and vice versa
• No access to contract analytics — Heatmaps, risk scoring, and contract analysis tools are not available in the guest view
• No ability to export — The counterparty cannot download or export the contract from Arbiter, keeping the document within the platform
• No access to your Dashboard or other contracts — Guest users can only see contracts they've been specifically invited to review

At a Glance

Here's a quick comparison of what each side has access to during an Arbiter review:

Tips for Maximizing Your Advantage

With Arbiter, you control the playing field. Here are a few ways to make the most of it:

• Lock your non-negotiables — Before sending, lock any sections with finalized language you don't want the counterparty to touch. They'll still be able to read them but won't be able to make edits or add markups
• Set up Areas for focus — Define Areas before sending so the counterparty navigates directly to the sections you want them to review, keeping the conversation on your terms
• Use internal comments strategically — Coordinate with your team using Internal comments throughout the review. The counterparty will never see these, making it a safe space for strategy notes and internal alignment
• Leverage AI Commands before sending — Run AI Commands like Make it Mutual, Balance the Terms, or Markup with a Prompt on the contract before you share it. The counterparty won't know these tools were used and won't have access to them for their turn
• Review analytics before each turn — Use contract analytics and heatmaps to assess risk areas before and after each round of negotiation. The counterparty doesn't have access to these insights
• Set due dates to keep momentum — The proposed due date in the invitation creates a natural timeline for the review, helping you control the pace of negotiation

For a full walkthrough of sending a contract through Arbiter — including locking sections, inviting the external party, recalling, exporting, and signing — see Arbiter Deep Dive.