Legal designed tender documents

Procurement specialists are divided into two schools of thought - those who advocate for very concise and brief tender documents because "everything is already stated in the law," and those who rather support a more educational and explanatory procurement document. While repetitions are indeed unnecessary, if the goal is to make the tender understandable to the entrepreneur and cultivate competition, then it is preferable to prioritize a procurement document that explains the process better. 

This is especially true if the tender is of international interest, meaning that foreign companies, who are not familiar with Estonian procurement law, are known to participate. In such a situation, the more information, the better. Because who are we looking for with a tender? Another procurement lawyer or an entrepreneur who would be the best partner for the procurer?

Margaret Hagan has defined legal design as follows:

Legal design is the application of human-centered design to the world of law, to make legal systems and services more human-centered, usable, and satisfying. It is an approach with three main sets of resources — process, mindsets, and mechanics — for legal professionals to use. And in the process, it sets key new metrics for how we operate in the world of law. Are we delivering services that are (1) usable, (2) useful, and (3) engaging?

I believe that procurers have a lot to gain if the documents related to the tender are made from the perspective of the entrepreneur rather than the procurement lawyer, and through this, the average number of bids in tenders can also be increased. Below is an excerpt from the first two pages of legal designed tender documents in a simplified procurement procedure.

My clients who are procurers can now choose when purchasing the tendering service - whether I compile the tender documents based on the procurer's own templates or based on innovative legal design. Additionally, in collaboration with legal design wizards Ave-Liis Saluveer and Simoona Hion, we can develop tender templates that are in line with the procurer's corporate visual identity.