What Is a Document?

So, what IS a document? Is it a piece of paper with writing on it? Not necessarily. Is it a contract or other binding piece of correspondence? Not necessarily. When it comes to the legal firm, a document generally represents your work product - its what law firms actually do or produce. For non-legal, a document achieves a goal - such as a quote or report which either gets you work or is charged for directly.  Each document contains the result of a professional's expertise and experience, which blends into any given document however the resulting product, more often than not, is a document - a document that achieves or records something. If a document is your work product, it makes sense to take a closer look at it! This article will not deal with general "documents" across the board, but rather, documents that directly relate to a law firm's work product.

So What is it?

In its most basic form, a document is simply text (whether in a computer file or on hardcopy) that relates to a single purpose, or multiple purposes relating to a single theme. Whether its a letter demanding repayment, a mortgage or a lease, documents generally follow this basic rule. A document is nearly always drafted or created to achieve a specific purpose, or multiple purposes relating to a single theme.

On Closer Examination of a Single Document...

It is made up of discrete pieces of information that are separate and distinct from other pieces of information. In some areas of law, these pieces will appear to be clauses, a paragraph or a series of paragraphs. In other areas, there are smaller pieces to be found within each clause or paragraph. The building blocks of your content are right there, blended with content that doesn't change at all.

Sometimes, these pieces are not readily apparent in the document, as they form part of the decision making process that dictates the content of the document. Other pieces of information will be re-used over and over again in multiple documents for a single case, such as dates, amounts or entities named in the document.

Take a Look at More Than One Document

If we took 2 versions of a document from 2 different clients, they will likely appear unique. If we then looked at 5 versions of the same document for 5 different clients, patterns would likely start to emerge.  More patterns emerge if you looked at 10 such documents and 20 would yield more again.  Suddenly, this document that seemingly needed to be drafted "by hand" because it was "unique" is nothing but a report of some of the options and information that may be used.  A will might be a good example - looks unique, but in reality is probably closer to a report that prints out 50 of the 250 (2,500?) clauses that were possible.  This is not a great analogy, but hopefully you get the idea.

If we analysed 50 versions of a document from 10 different clients, patterns will not only emerge, they will be plain as day. The document suddenly appears repetitive, routine even. Not just in terms of boilerplate language, but in terms of the options, the content, the style and the aims & goals of the document.  Suddenly, there are only 10 basic ways to sue in a commercial litigation matter, but each set of pleadings shares some common options. Perhaps there 100 common lease clauses that are repeated in different leases in different sequences.  Not for all documents in all areas of law, but enough to make it worthwhile and recognisable.

So What's the Point Here?

If you were to look at the documentation of 100 finalized matters in a single area of practice across two or three "repeat business" clients, there are definite themes - checklists if you will, with mild divergences. Most high volume mortgage sections couldn't function without them. It doesn't matter if you are doing the mortgage work for Aussie Home Loans, Wizard, St George, Westpac or whomever. If you look at all the documents across their matters for a given state, the documents are largely the same with minor alterations, additions and removals. Language relating to specific terms & conditions will change. Dates & parties will change. Letters will change, as each client has their own particular approach to their work. However, the documents are the same, with quite a few moving parts. Why? Because they all have similar purposes, they are all related. They are not different, they are simply variations on a common theme, related to a single topic.

Impossible -vs.- Possible

What may appear to be an impossible task is very doable - all it takes is breaking down the individual pieces of data into small enough pieces that you can work with them. Who is the client? As soon as you ask that question, you have the ability to program all the pieces of information that are particular to that client only. What sort of loan documentation are we drafting? Congratulations, with that one question, you can easily set up a series of questions that will ask only the questions needed for THAT set of documentation. Does our client require a Guarantee? As soon as the user clicks yes or no, it is child's play to automatically include a Guarantee document and ask a series of questions as to who is guaranteeing the loan and what security (if any) they provide.

Conclusion

In many cases for the law firm, a document is not an individually crafted masterpiece that was extremely specific to a certain client's matter. Largely, it is a single document that changes slightly to suit the needs of the matter at hand.  The more options and optional content you build, the more variations of a template can be produced automatically without redrafting the same old tired content. And that's the trick of document assembly - identifying what is static (doesn't change) and what is dynamic (what does change) and by how much.

So what is a document? Its the visible work product that contains the relevant expertise, experience and approach of Professional X, combined with a template or blank document, plus the data from a matter that hit your desk. Document assembly is simply providing an automated system to supply the first part of the document - the expertise, experience and approach of Professional X.

The template (or blank) will be yours. The data will be yours and may come from you entering information or from a product such as Amicus Attorney, Time Matters or other database. And as with any law firm, the approach and expertise will be yours also.  Document assembly is building a system that leverages that expertise across your firm, to every secretary, paralegal and even solicitor.  Draft it once. Capture it. Then re-use the hell out of it.