Hello Andrew,
I actually do work in a space that deals contracts do perform either research tasks or even with the later stages of the clinical trials and it is tough to get a contract pushed especially if it deals with the Intellectual Property of the company and making sure the contracted supplier agrees to the required terms. And what Dr. Simon and you mentioned is really the best scenario to help expedite the contracting portion. By working directly with the legal department, it helps to find what is preventing the contract to be signed and work with the supplier to find the median that both parties can agree to. I was working on a service agreement contract and when everything was close to being finalized and be sent out for signature, it turns out that the template itself was not accepted by supplier. So after months of back and forth discussion about what the contract in its new template, and how my company’s requirements needed to be added in order to use template, we connected with legal department and has helped to see the outstanding questions and next steps more clearly to satisfy both parties.