Is Legal Document Automation Software Worth it?

Listen. We get it. Your firm is busy.

There’s a good chance that most (if not all) of your lawyers work well beyond 40-hour weeks on a regular basis.

And they do great work for you. But if you’re not doing enough to help them, you may be limiting your firm’s productivity–and the truth is, you might be limiting productivity without even realizing it.

In fact, 75% of American workers don’t believe they have access to the latest efficiency-boosting technology.

And if you don’t even know where to start, you’ve got a major problem on your hands. This is where legal document preparation software can help bring your firm to the next level.

What is Document Automation?

But before we dig deep into how legal document assembly software can help your firm, let’s cover the basics.

At the most basic level, document automation involves the ability to create drafts of legal documents quickly and easily, without fumbling for Microsoft Word and multiple conflicting drafts.

The trick with legal documents is that many of them involve complex clauses, which make them difficult (and time-consuming) to create manually. In other words, your lawyers and support staff are wasting time that they could be using to better focus on your client’s case.

What is Legal Document Preparation Software?

Legal document preparation software is designed with these complex documents in mind so that your team can stop wasting time on the mundane details and focus on your client.

HotDocs software makes the process simple, fast, and easy. It comes with pre-designed templates and uses a quick questionnaire to build a template for your new document, building the text and applying the correct styles based on your answers.

So instead of building a document from scratch, all you need to do is fill out a form.

Who Automates the Documents?

Now, you might be wondering: if you invested in this preparation software, who would be automating the documents? Your IT team? Your support staff? Your attorneys?

Ideally, your attorneys should be automating their own documents. It might seem like it wastes more time to have your attorneys do this work themselves, but when you think about it, it’s actually more efficient.

If your attorneys hand off the work to support staff, you run the risk that their non-subject-matter-experts will create the wrong template, resulting in runaround that wastes more time.

The point of this software isn’t to take the work out of your attorneys’ hands, per se, so much as streamlining the amount of work your team handles. This will ensure they get the right document the first time, and that they can maintain their own document templates for easy reference.

Why Does Legal Document Assembly Matter?

With that in mind, let’s talk about the importance of legal document automation.

When you keep in mind your goals with document automation, the benefits are actually rather obvious.

Improved Productivity

The biggest benefit is a boost to your firm’s overall productivity.

Think about the process on a micro-level.

Before document automation, every document was a production. Each attorney or a member of their support staff had to create a new document in Word, or go digging for the right version of the template they needed, and then plug in all of the essential details.

With document automation, all your staff needs to do is plug in the essential details into a form to create the template they need.

This vastly reduces the number of man-hours required to create documents, which streamlines your entire workflow. In fact, when properly implemented, HotDocs software can save you millions in costs and work hours every year.

Increased Compliance

Let’s be honest: over 500 billion Microsoft Word documents are created each year.

While you don’t have that many documents floating around in your servers, the sheer number of documents your attorneys have to sift through can make compliance an uphill battle.

When you’re dealing with complex legal documents, you can’t afford to let tiny errors derail your entire strategy.

HotDocs software allows you to transform even the most complex legal documents into interactive templates that your attorneys can control down to the most minute level.

And when you’re protecting confidential information and dealing with intricate legal documents, that’s a huge boost to your firm’s bottom line.

A Streamlined Workplace

Finally, when you use document automation to strengthen your firm, you’re creating a more streamlined, productive, and happier workplace.

Think of it this way: your attorneys work insane hours. If they can’t access an important document because they’re away from the office and the document they need is saved on the firm’s local server, it can stall their workflow.

This software allows your team to access the documents they need from any location. More importantly, you can ensure they have access to the right version of a document, regardless of where they log on from.

The Software Your Firm Needs to Succeed

Now that you know what legal document preparation software could do for your firm, are you ready to give your firm the tools it needs to succeed?

Our HotDocs software allows your firm to cut down on 70% of document drafting time while reducing errors to deliver a better experience to your clients every time.

Are you ready to get started? So are we. The good news is that booking your consultation is fast and easy–because we know your firm is busy.

If you’d like to book your consultation, click here to get started with scheduling.