Document Assembly Systems In the practice of law, the capability to automatically assemble documents can significantly
impact profitability. Document assembly is a system designed to assemble documents automatically. If you prepare wills and trusts, corporate papers, litigation pleadings, retainer agreements, letters, or documents in any area of law, you will benefit by setting up a document assembly system for your specific area. By automating document assembly, you can reduce the need and wait for support staff to type and proofread documents. Time restraints no longer prevent documents from being completed. Document assembly systems are systems designed to take variable or clause information from a user and generate completed or nearly completed legal documents. Variables are words, short phrases, data, or numbers that change from one document to another. The names of parties to a contract, the payment amounts, completion dates, and so on, are examples of variables that change for each contract. Also, clauses or alternative paragraphs can be inserted in a document the same as variables. Document assembly systems are generally menu-driven question and answer systems that guide the user through the document assembly project. Some systems simply request the user to fill in the blanks and that data will be inserted in the proper place in the document. Some systems can manipulate the data by performing calculations or formatting it in a specific way. Clauses and the user’s own forms or templates can generally be added, depending upon the features of the program. Document assembly systems are available for a wide range of law specialties - wills and trusts, litigation, contracts, incorporations, collections, evictions, and partnerships, among others. When deciding upon what area would lend itself to document assembly, consider the following:
Implementing a document system is much easier with the new software on the market but certain steps should be followed:
Document assembly systems are an effective way to remain competitive with other lawyers and nonlawyers. Many states are unable to control the unauthorized practice of law, and “document preparers” are continuing to provide legal services. One way to effectively compete in this area is with document assembly software. If the client or someone other than the attorney would enter the data into the database, the attorney can then give final approval to the assembled document. Below are a number of screens from the software program HotDocs showing the how document assembly is used to create a noncompetition agreement. Many document assembly systems are set up for specific legal practice areas. In some instances, they are set up to run with your favorite word processor and enable you to automatically assemble pleadings. They are usually jurisdiction specific, enabling the users to know, for example, that a form personal injury complaint in New York has been reviewed by qualified New York attorneys who have conformed it to the local and statewide rules. Instead of using general “forms” which you need to customize to your jurisdiction, these are already customized with applicable forms for your jurisdiction.
These document assembly or practice systems may contain:
A recent feature to look for is the capability to fill in preprinted forms using a computer. As if using a typewriter, a legal professional can fill in the forms on a computer. These preprinted forms can then be printed. The user can define the fields and can save the answers for use in drafting similar documents. Some of the practice systems available are medical malpractice, personal injury, products liability, aviation, bankruptcy, federal civil practice forms, jury instructions, California Civil Practice Forms, and Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri practice, and jury forms. Since these desktop practice systems are being released on a monthly basis, it is important to contact legal publishers for the desktop systems available for your jurisdiction. Expert Practice Systems. An expert system is an intelligent computer program that uses data and inference systems to solve legal problems, which otherwise would require significant human intervention. They are decision and advice oriented and differ from document assembly systems in they provide a high level of advice based on logic as opposed to just relying on variables or clauses. They are an interactive computer program that can apply rules to input in such a way as to generate conclusions. The program helps users solve problems that would otherwise require the assistance of a human expert. Expert systems require a significant amount of time and money to develop. The resulting system can lower the cost per case and become a firm asset. Integration of word processing with a database program.There are two primary approaches for document assembly. One can use macros or internal word processing programming to assemble documents, or one can integrate with “database” programs and merge data from the database into the word processing documents. Database programs, such as HotDocs™, are created especially for document assembly. Other generic database programs, such as Microsoft Access, can merge data with Microsoft Word. Many firms use a database to track case and client information. This same database can be “merged” with word processing documents to prepare mailings for clients, pleadings, etc. This prevents wasteful duplicative entries and ensures accuracy from a master database. Generally, there is a master or template document that is joined with a database program where specific case data is stored. After the specific case data is entered, the database will automatically insert the data into the master or template documents and “assemble” the documents. It is not necessary to locate a “form” that was previously created and go through the document word by word to tailor it for the case you are working on. Instead, the data is automatically inserted into the proper documents in the proper location without cutting or pasting. Complex, lengthy documents can be assembled in literally seconds after the key data is entered.
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