Checks are questions or clause definitions Emma runs against every relevant document in your data room. The result — a risk level per document — appears as a column in the Risks tab of the Matrix.
Emma provides a library of predefined checks organized by topic. You can also reuse checks from other data rooms in your organization. This article walks you through adding them.
Step 1 — Open the check picker
Go to the Matrix in the main sidebar, select a document type in the left sidebar, and click the Risks tab. Then click Select checks in the toolbar.
You can also open the picker from the Checks page (main sidebar) by clicking Select checks in the top right.
Step 2 — Browse Emma's checks
The picker opens on the Emma's Checks tab, which shows the full predefined library.
Checks are grouped into topics such as HR, Commercial, Financial, IP, IT, General, and more. Click a topic name to filter the list, or use the search box to find a specific check by name or keyword.
Each check card shows:
Title — the name of the check
Description — what Emma looks for in documents
Jurisdiction tags — which jurisdictions the check applies to
Risk descriptions — what constitutes High, Medium, and Low risk for this check
Checks that are already added to your data room are greyed out.
Example: click HR in the topic list, then tick the checkbox on Non-Solicitation of Employees, IP Transfer, and Non-Compete Clause.
Step 3 — Select and add checks
Once you have ticked one or more checks, a button at the bottom of the dialog shows Create N check(s) from selection. Click it.
If you want to reuse checks from another data room in your organization, switch to the Your organization's checks tab (it is labelled with your organization's name), drill into the data room of your choice, and select checks there before clicking the button.
Step 4 — Configure scope (M&A data rooms)
A Configure scope dialog opens. Scope controls which documents Emma will run each check against. You should target the scope as precisely as possible — running checks against all areas increases analysis time and may produce more false positives.
Under Areas, select the areas that are relevant for these checks. For HR checks, for example, select the HR or Employment area.
Optionally, under Document types, select specific types within those areas. Leave this empty to include all document types in the selected areas.
Click Add check.
In Projects, scope is fixed to the single document type and this step is skipped.
Step 5 — Wait for Emma to analyze
Emma immediately starts analyzing every document that matches the scope. Analysis can take a few minutes depending on the number of documents.
You can track progress on the Checks page — each check shows a status of In progress, Completed, or Failed. New documents uploaded later that match the scope are analyzed automatically.
Step 6 — Review the results
Go to the Matrix → Risks tab. You will see a new column for each check you added. Each row is a document; each cell shows the risk level Emma found:
Level | Meaning |
High | A significant risk was found |
Medium | A moderate risk was found |
Low | A minor risk was found |
No risk | The check found no risk in this document |
Unspecified | Emma found something relevant but could not determine the risk level — requires manual review |
Start with the Unspecified cells — these are the ones that require your review. Double-click a cell to open the file viewer, read the highlighted clause, and select the risk level you consider appropriate (High, Medium, Low, or No risk). Your colleagues will see that you reviewed it.
For a full guide to reviewing risks in the file viewer, see Risks.
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If you need additional help configuring checks or encounter any other problem, don't hesitate to reach out through the chat bubble in the bottom right or contact [email protected].