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Mergers And Acquisitions

Due Diligence Checklist

Creating comprehensive due diligence checklists for M&A transactions traditionally requires hours of manual document review, cross-referencing multiple sources, and ensuring compliance with industry standards. Attorneys must painstakingly verify corporate structures, analyze financial records, review contracts, and assess regulatory compliance across nine or more complex categories, risking oversight and inconsistency.

Automation ROI

Time savings at a glance

Manual workflow6.5 hoursAverage time your team spends by hand
With CaseMark8 minutesDelivery time with CaseMark automation
EfficiencySave 32.5x time with CaseMark

The Problem

Creating thorough due diligence checklists for corporate transactions requires hours of manual work to ensure all critical areas are covered across legal, financial, operational, and regulatory domains. Missing key items or using generic templates can expose clients to undiscovered risks and liabilities. The complexity increases with transaction size, industry-specific requirements, and cross-border considerations.

The CaseMark Solution

CaseMark generates customized, comprehensive due diligence checklists tailored to your specific transaction type, industry, and client priorities in minutes. Our AI ensures complete coverage across all standard categories while incorporating transaction-specific considerations and emerging risk areas. Get organized, thorough checklists that serve as both investigation roadmaps and completion records.

Key benefits

How CaseMark automations transform your workflow

Reduce checklist preparation time from 6+ hours to under 15 minutes

Automatically extract and organize key information from corporate documents, contracts, and financial records

Ensure comprehensive coverage across all nine critical due diligence categories

Cross-reference findings with authoritative legal sources including SEC filings, USPTO resources, and bar association guidelines

Minimize risk of oversight with AI-powered document analysis and compliance verification

What you'll receive

Introduction and Purpose
Corporate Structure and Organization
Financial Information
Contracts and Agreements
Intellectual Property
Litigation and Compliance
Employees and Benefits
Assets, Liabilities, and Insurance
Regulatory and Environmental Matters

Document requirements

Required

  • Transaction Overview

Optional

  • Client Priority Areas
  • Industry-Specific Requirements
  • Prior Due Diligence Reports

Perfect for

M&A attorneys conducting buy-side or sell-side due diligence
Corporate counsel overseeing acquisition transactions
Private equity attorneys reviewing investment opportunities
Transaction partners managing deal teams
In-house legal departments evaluating strategic acquisitions
Business development attorneys supporting corporate growth initiatives

Also useful for

This workflow is applicable across multiple practice areas and use cases

Private equity and venture capital firms conduct extensive due diligence before making investments, requiring comprehensive checklists to evaluate target companies across financial, legal, and operational dimensions.

The workflow's focus on investment opportunity review, corporate document analysis, and financial record organization directly supports PE/VC investment evaluation processes, with target personas explicitly including private equity attorneys.

Asset Purchase85% relevant

Asset purchase transactions require detailed due diligence on specific assets, contracts, intellectual property, and liabilities being transferred, making comprehensive checklists essential for identifying risks and structuring deals.

The workflow's sections on assets, contracts, intellectual property, and liabilities directly support asset purchase due diligence, which shares similar analytical requirements with M&A transactions but focuses on specific asset transfers.

Corporate Finance82% relevant

Corporate finance transactions including debt financing, equity raises, and recapitalizations require thorough due diligence of corporate structure, financial information, and regulatory compliance before closing.

The checklist's coverage of financial information, corporate structure, contracts, and regulatory matters directly applies to corporate finance transactions where lenders and investors need comprehensive due diligence before funding.

Securities offerings, public company transactions, and capital markets activities require extensive due diligence including SEC filing review, corporate governance analysis, and regulatory compliance verification.

The workflow's integration with SEC filings and focus on regulatory compliance, corporate structure, and financial information directly supports securities law due diligence for IPOs, secondary offerings, and public company transactions.

Corporate dissolution and wind-down processes require comprehensive due diligence to identify all assets, liabilities, contracts, and regulatory obligations that must be addressed before closing the entity.

The checklist's coverage of corporate structure, assets, liabilities, contracts, and regulatory matters provides a framework for ensuring all legal and financial obligations are identified and resolved during dissolution proceedings.

Frequently asked questions

Q

What types of transactions can this due diligence checklist be used for?

A

The checklist is designed for all major corporate transactions including mergers, acquisitions, asset purchases, equity investments, joint ventures, and corporate restructurings. It can be customized based on whether you're representing the buyer, seller, or investor, and adapts to transaction size from small private company acquisitions to large public company mergers. The framework covers both domestic and cross-border transactions.

Q

How comprehensive is the due diligence checklist generated by CaseMark?

A

The checklist covers all standard due diligence categories including corporate structure, financial records, material contracts, intellectual property, litigation and compliance, employment matters, assets and liabilities, insurance, and environmental issues. Each section includes specific document requests, verification procedures, and space for tracking receipt status and identified concerns. The output is tailored to your transaction specifics while maintaining institutional-quality comprehensiveness.

Q

Can the checklist be customized for industry-specific requirements?

A

Yes, the checklist framework adapts to industry-specific regulatory and compliance requirements. You can specify the target company's industry and any particular areas of concern, and the generated checklist will incorporate relevant regulatory frameworks, specialized permits and licenses, and industry-standard due diligence items. This ensures coverage of sector-specific risks whether dealing with healthcare, technology, manufacturing, financial services, or other industries.

Q

How does this help manage the due diligence process for deal teams?

A

The checklist serves as both a roadmap for conducting due diligence and a tracking tool for managing the process. It provides clear section organization, specific document requests that can be assigned to team members, verification procedures to ensure quality control, and space for noting receipt status and red flags. The summary sections help identify critical findings and required follow-up, making it easier to report progress to clients and manage complex multi-workstream investigations.

Q

What information do I need to provide to generate an effective checklist?

A

At minimum, you need basic transaction information including the transaction type, parties involved, and general scope. Providing additional context such as specific client concerns, materiality thresholds, industry considerations, or known risk areas will result in a more tailored checklist. The more transaction-specific information you provide, the more customized and relevant the output will be to your particular engagement.