The very first thought that comes into our minds when we hear anything related to law is “paperwork.” Although the legal profession is rewarding, it has some drawbacks, including an abundance amount of time attorneys spend in the document review process!

Lawyers and litigation documents have a love-hate relationship. Attorneys love working on new cases but hate all the paperwork that comes along with it. Scanning through heaps of paper loads, contract management, keeping track and updating information from time to time, and above all this, making sure the information is error-free. Document review can be a lengthy, stressful, and cumbersome job.

Fortunately, technology is helping to ease the process. 

What Is Legal Document Automation?

As stated, document review is a lengthy process and a time-consuming one. Scanning each document and looking for key information, then building a file from scratch each time we get a new case or contract. Undoubtedly, this process not only takes time but also creates several chances of blunders, leading to huge costs.

Document automation is a process that helps law firms and attorneys to easily organize, access, and work with their documents during their practice of law. This means that a legal document automation tool will review the document and present a template with a questionnaire. Based on the input, data and key information is then inserted into the final document generated. Legal document automation software introduces a more effective way to draft new documents.

Therefore, using automation for document review and management firms can drastically reduce inaccuracy, costs, and overall inefficiency. Basically, turn all their incapability and faulty organization into everything positive and effective!

How Does It Work?

Legal document automation software is AI incorporated tool that helps conserve time by reviewing documents in a quick fix! They scan through various contracts and cases and provide lawyers with important key information that might interest them. Therefore, lawyers just have to review only a few options and select the right one instead of analyzing huge mountains of documents. Benefits Of Automation

The legal sector really leveled up its game with the adoption of automated document review software. It encouraged lawyers to work on billable client hours more proficiently. While automated software handles tiresome tasks like contract management, document review, invoicing, and client intake, attorneys can work towards providing better representation to clients and make every billable minute count by doing what they are best at, without time-wastage.

There are multiple pros to having a document full of important information from new contracts within a couple of minutes. Let’s have a look at some key benefits of document automation:

1. Beat the clock! Gone are the days when lawyers used to spend a fortune on document review and management. Lawyers spend a lot of duration reviewing a contract, figuring out all the key information, and creating a document with only the important information. Every time, they enter into a new contract, they have to start from scratch. With automated software, documents are drafted 80% faster and more accurately. It is much quicker to generate a document from scratch within minutes with just a few clicks.
2. Chop off the errors! One of the biggest issues firms face is the consequences of errors in their document. If a document is drafted manually, there are a lot more chances of errors and inaccuracy. While outlining a document there’s no scope for mistakes. When we perform every process of documentation, manually, the process can be prolonged and open to a lot of errors. Error is something no firm or lawyer can afford. By automating documentation, one is not only preventing slip-ups but also saving huge costs. Automated document software generated accurate information.
3. Well-oiled workflow. Imagine looking for just a single information piece in heaps of hard-copied documents or maintaining these documents. What a waste of time it is! Automating documents has a cloud-based document storing system that not only maintains the documents but makes it way too easy to look for a piece of specific information. It makes document reviewing a cakewalk. By decreasing time spent on administrative tasks and concentrating on actually practicing law and assisting clients. The more time lawyers spend working on mainstream tasks the more effective workflow will be maintained, bringing in additional profits.
4. Keep hold of the firm’s know-how. A fair amount of brainpower is lost when lawyers leave the firm. But with automated documentation, firms will no longer be dependent on a single person for a given job. The software does it all! It saves the firm’s knowledge and helps train new lawyers plain and simple. One can teach anything to anyone in the afternoon.
5. Helps in serving right to the clients. If anything, speedy delivery is something clients crave and demand. With automating the process, all the further steps will be automatically done quicker. This increases better client experience. Since all the work is done by the software, lawyers will spend more time serving the clients and thus attracting new clients as well!

Tips to choose the right tool

We know it’s not easy to look for the right tool for document automation. There are a lot of factors that might affect the choice. Some of the major factors are:

• Reasonable cost. Make sure to be aware of all options and know their worth as well. Being a lawyer cutting costs play a crucial role in our lives, we may not want to select expensive software.
• Always be aware of the features that an application is offering. One will have to make sure that the tool meets their needs. For instance, they need a tool that performs document review in the background without creating a disturbance. Therefore, determine the needs.
• Make sure to try an application by creating a trial account before buying it.
• Know the capabilities. Suppose the software requires coding but one does not have that skill. They might want to look for other options.

Choosing the right tool is a responsible job. As tiresome as document review and management processes can be, it is very important to every lawyer and firm. Choosing the right tool for automation means not only a lawyer will be responsible if anything goes wrong but they will also have to bear the costs.

are you ready for automation?

Small businesses only have a handful of contracts or cases. They can simply be reviewed by attorneys and employees. But as the number grows and the firm starts making new contracts, it becomes difficult and error-prone for humans to do the reviewing process.

The truth is, that every firm wants to earn more and more. Adopting new technology may seem risky at first, but once we learn to grasp knowledge, we start to earn more and more. It is very important to be aware of technology, but it is more important to know how to put it to the right use.

Once the firm grows, start considering getting automation software so that not only the documents are created, reviewed, and managed from time to time but also attorneys get time to work more effectively towards other important tasks like client-serving and increasing the profitability of the firm.

Consider document automation when:

• The documents are at high risk and require consistent input.
• A lot of time is consumed doing documentation manually
• Reoccurring and repeated mistakes are taking place
• Lawyers don’t get enough time to work effectively on the case

software for document automation

1. HotDocs: Transforms documents and PDFs into templates that can be used to draft new documents.
2. PandaDoc: Designed specifically for the sale process. It helps the sales team by creating proposals.
3. Templafy: Used generally by large firms. It dynamically creates and updates documents.
4. Document: It is a simple UI software with a no-code document assembly.
5. Conga: This is a solution for sales team document automation problems.
6. Woodpecker: This is a great option for solo lawyers and small firms. It gives its users a wide range of features.

Document automation is one of the most important and mighty technologies to improve the effectiveness of the firm. It aids in faster and more accurate document review and management, thus helping free up the firm’s and lawyers’ time to perform other tasks.

Resisting the use of automated software will only going to cost us time and money. So the bottom line is, to choose the correct software and start running towards betterment and improvement.

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