Should I Use a Document Automation Software?

Do you remember the last time you created a legal document from scratch? Do you remember how much time it took to add in all the pertinent party information and legal language in excruciating detail?

Document automation places those days squarely in the past.

Document automation software saves the headache of manual document drafting by quickly and easily building the document for you. This is achieved through the use of a questionnaire in which you input the necessary values for the document. Document automation software can also build the document with the proper style and numbering.

Still not sold? Read on to find out about the major benefits document automation software can bring to your firm or practice!

Save Money and Increase Productivity

The most obvious reason for using document automation software is because it will save money. Document automation software allows you to save money on hourly staff that would ordinarily be hired to draft and review documents containing boilerplate legal language and standard terms. This software does all that work for you 70% less time!

Document preparation software can also draw more money into your firm.

It’s no secret that hiring an attorney to handle a dispute or transaction is an incredibly costly undertaking. Clients know that every second spent on their case is tracked and added to their attorney’s billable hours. As a result, it’s becoming more common for potential clients to go pro se and utilize online document preparation services for their cases in order to save money.

Losing clients to these services is especially detrimental to attorneys whose sole function within a firm or practice is document preparation. It also deprives potential clients of valuable legal counsel, and may end up costing your clients more money down the line, or worse, they’ll lose their case or produce faulty documents.

Document automation software enables you to assure your clients that they have made the right decision in hiring an attorney to hand their affairs. They will know that their hard earned money isn’t being wasted on billable hours spent on costly manual document preparation. The provision of affordable legal services will draw potential clients away from pro se document services.

This document assembly process also enables your firm and associates to take on larger caseloads because of the ability to prepare substantially more documents in the same time frame, thus bringing in even more money.

In addition to the expense of manual document assembly, hours wasted on manual document assembly are hours that are not being spent on legal research or reviewing interrogatories and requests for production.

Instead of spending an hour drafting a document, you can spend a few minutes prepping it for automation, and use the rest of the hour on other tasks that cannot be automated. In this sense, document automation software makes your associates more substantively productive, growing their legal knowledge in the process.

Training your associates and staff in the use of document automation software can be time and cost efficient, too. Single and two day in office training programs are available.

Document Automation Software Prevents Costly Errors

Not only is manual drafting of documents a slower and more expensive process, but it is also more likely to result in a document that contains errors. In today’s litigious world, major errors can cost your firm more than the time it takes to fix the errors. This is especially true if the error harms your client and it goes to court.

There are several types of documents that can benefit from document automation software in order to drastically reduce the likelihood of errors.

Wills, Trusts, Durable Powers of Attorney

These documents frequently contain boilerplate language and only require you to switch out information relevant to the party for which the document is being prepared. Document automation software fills in the relevant information and ensures that all the proper legal language is in the document — all in minutes without the risk of human error.

Case Captions

Many law firms have multiple practice areas in multiple jurisdictions. The end result of this is that the attorneys have to deal with multiple courts, many of which have very different and very particular requirements for case captions.

Accidentally using the wrong format can cause your case to be rejected, and you may even miss the statute of limitations on your case. Document automation software allows you to create a template specific to that court and distribute it for use throughout your firm.

Improve Your Firm’s Reputation

Today’s potential clients have hundreds of law firms from which to choose. Client satisfaction should be at the forefront of your mind when you’re considering whether or not to invest in document automation software.

Document automation software helps you do two things clients love: save money and get better results.

Clients want to get the most bang for their buck, and if they’re being charged for manual document assembly, they’re simply not getting that. Spending less time and brain power on document assembly means clients are paying for the things they are most concerned about, like developing a winning strategy for their case, drawing up a will that no one will want to contest, or developing powerful articles of incorporation for your new business.

Stellar performance doesn’t go unnoticed. We live in the age of Yelp!, where businesses, including law firms, live and die by their reputation. If you do an amazing job, word will get out. If you charge a ton of money for documents that end up having an error, word will get out about that, too.

Investing in document automation software is an investment in the future of your firm or practice.

Interested Now?

Document automation software makes life much easier for you, your associates, and your clients. It’s such a powerful document assembly method that even the American Bar Association recommends law firms and practices utilize it to reduce costs, error, and increase productivity.

Schedule a consultation today to see how REAL Automation Solutions can help your firm.