If you’re familiar with older document assembly technologies, you may have had these unfortunate experiences:

• Document assembly requires programming. I have to program merge fields or hire consultants to write Java code. And I must do this each time I want to add to or edit my forms.
• Document assembly is slow. It takes too much time and effort to get my documents into the system. It involves a large upfront cost.
• Document assembly is opaque. I answer some online questions and an invisible black box populates a draft document. I can’t see how the pieces fit together and I don’t trust it.
• Document assembly isn’t drafting. I do all my other drafting in Microsoft Word. All of my document styles and all my firm’s systems are tied to Word.

Legal document automation eliminates these objections. It’s the natural evolution from first-­‐generation document assembly solutions. Because of this, legal document automation delivers an easier, faster, more intuitive solution, one designed to fit how firms operate and lawyers work.

The Three Basic Functions Of Legal Document Automation.

1. Intuitive Form Automation
   Legal document automation tools let lawyers automate their own documents without programmers or expensive consultants. The process looks like this:
   – Open a copy of your existing form.
   – Within Microsoft Word, specify those document areas you wish to automate: people, places, amounts, citations, variable text, alternate clauses, attachments, etc.
   – Assign or link questions and conditions to those automated areas.
   – Instruct the automation tool to perform any mathematical calculations your form contains.
   – Add documents to create multi-­‐ document packages.
   – Once automated, quickly clone your forms and customize them for particular clients and jurisdictions.
2. Streamlined Document Drafting
   Legal document automation doesn’t replace matter-specific drafting – it makes that drafting faster and more accurate.
   Open your automated package. Quickly answer questions—adding data, clicking deal terms. Drag in special language clauses. Make fine-tune text edits by typing directly in Word. Then answer more questions. State-of-the-art legal document automation systems let you move seamlessly back and forth though multiple drafting modes, allowing you precise control.
   Unlike older document assembly tools, Legal document automation gives you much greater visibility: changes to deal terms precipitate changes to documents in front of your eyes, dynamically and in real-time.
   Perhaps most importantly, legal document automation is faster—as much as 80% faster —than traditional drafting. Make a change that affects several—or several dozen— language sections across multiple documents. All of those sections and each of those documents update in seconds. Swap documents in and out of your deal package, and the new documents adjust instantly. At the eleventh hour, rapidly shuffle parties, adjust roles, and change closing conditions.
3. Publishable, Collaborative Document Creation
   Advanced legal document automation systems also let lawyers create mobile collaborative deal tools they can share with clients and co-workers.
   In minutes, these lawyers can customize their automated forms for particular clients or matter types. Then, just as quickly, they publish those forms as flexible online questionnaires, syndicating their exper.se in ways that drive new work into their firms.
   Clients access the mobile questionnaires, select a matter type and, aided by guides and market information, supply deal information and preferences. When those clients submit their matter, one of two things happens: if the lawyer enabled the form as self-service, the client instantly receives a fully completed set of documents; if not, the matter is submitted to the law firm for expedited review and efficient completion.
   By customizing and syndicating their forms, lawyers provide clients and prospective clients with concierge-level services that differentiate those lawyers from competing firms.

If you want to stop doing document assembly and start doing Legal Document Automation, contact Leaflet now to get started.