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October 20, 2022
Choosing a legal document automation software for your law firm does not have to be difficult. Read this guide to get a complete understanding and how it can help evaluate legal documents.
Legal document automation applications are excellent for law firms looking to automate their processes. They can keep your documents up-to-date, generate in multiple formats when you need them, and give you a repository for storing documents that your employees will be able to access from different devices.
Evaluating a legal document automation software will also help ease the burden when you have an ever-growing number of processes. But it can be overwhelming to go about choosing one. There are several document automation tools in the market, with varied features.
We bring you this guide to help you understand the essential features to look for in legal document automation software.
Here are the various challenges that legal professionals usually face when processing documents.
The legal industry is a fast-paced field that requires the handling of multiple types of documents for each case. From court documents to contracts, it is not always easy to keep track of them.
The first challenge is that there are several types of legal documents that you need to organize, and they can be difficult to find when you need them. The second challenge is that most law firms use paper records, which can be hard to search through or locate when needed.
For example, if you're working with an auto insurance client, you may have to deal with anything from medical reports to vehicle inspection reports. How do you get those documents organized seamlessly and keep them in one place?
Because of the nature of legal documents, they should be in the best form. All the documents must be scanned in color, and black and white for use in court cases. Unfortunately, outdated scanners often do not produce high-quality images of documents.
The problem with low-quality images is they can make it difficult for automation tools to read a document or even identify critical information such as signatures or dates. It can lead to costly mistakes and wasted time when trying to move ahead with work.
Legal documents typically have multiple pages, often with complex formatting and content. Legal professionals have to scan these pages to ensure they get everything right. This is a time-consuming process that can take hours to complete.
It is also not uncommon for legal documents to have hundreds of pages, which means you'll need to spend hours scanning them into an electronic format before you can begin working on them.
The biggest challenge is recognizing the data contained within images of scanned documents. This is a problem because the text recognition software creates an image of each word and tries to match them against its dictionary of known words. If there are any mistakes made along the way (for example, if there are spelling errors), all subsequent analyses will be inaccurate.
Legal documents are sensitive and need to be stored in secure locations. They might include client information, financial or medical records, or sensitive legal information. If a document is lost, stolen, or destroyed, it could affect your business. You can't afford to lose your client's data.
You also need to ensure other people don't see confidential documents that they shouldn't. If you have an employee who sees something they shouldn't while working on your documents, they could use that information against you or another client.
The legal sector is a multi-billion-dollar industry. It's no wonder that law firms are investing heavily in technology to reduce costs and increase the efficiency of their operations. Legal document automation is one of the most vital areas where businesses can leverage technology to improve productivity and quality. It is because 63% of the in-house activities of legal firms are repeatable.
Automated document review is ideal for several tasks, including document scanning and OCR conversion, data extraction, document classification, etc. The use of automation can significantly reduce legal costs by making it possible to process large volumes of documents quickly and accurately.
Automating the processing of legal documents is thus a vital step towards document automation. Legal documents can be very complicated, with many different parties involved in the litigation process. Lawyers and paralegals play a crucial role in the legal process, but they cannot be expected to process every document manually.
Here are some tips to help you choose the best legal document automation software.
When choosing a legal document automation software, it is vital to remember you're not just looking for a good deal on the initial purchase—you're also looking for a service that will give you access to the information you need.
Everything in your client database should be easily searchable and accessible. It will help your team find what they need when they need it. This includes client addresses, phone numbers, emails, contact people at each company, and so on.
Your law firm will also want to store the client data in a secure database. This is one of the areas where legal document automation software has an advantage over traditional methods. With automation, you can maintain client information with ease and prevent it from getting lost.
Some document automation software programs offer templates, while others give customizable documents. If you're looking for something in between, there are several options. You will also want to ensure your chosen program has different templates that fit your niche.
E-signatures are becoming more and more important in the legal space. If you're looking for a software platform that can help you automate the legal document process, ensure that it has e-signature capabilities. Without them, you can't really be sure that the documents you're using are legally binding, and you may even run the risk of getting into trouble with the law.
To get a clear view of the document automation process and make it more efficient, you need to assign roles to team members. There are various types of roles that you can give based on the role they play in the process. For example, one member can be a document builder, another a document reviewer, and so on.
Assigning roles to the people contributing to the project will help you keep track of who is responsible for what. It can also help with collaboration by ensuring everyone is on the same page about their role in the process.
Integrations help you connect your document automation software to other programs or services you might need for your law firm. This might include email and calendar applications or even cloud storage services.
If your legal document automation software doesn't support integrations, you will have to find another way to integrate those tools yourself. This can be time-consuming, expensive, and unreliable—and it can also mean missing out on some of the best features of the program you're using.
Here are the benefits of investing in a quality document automation software.
One of the benefits of document automation for legal firms is that it allows you to create better contracts. Why? Because you're able to take advantage of the power of smart contracts that self-execute when certain conditions are met. You can be sure your contracts will get executed as intended—and nothing more or less.
When you automate your contracts, you can also ensure they are prepared in a way that is legally compliant and meets your clients' needs. This means fewer revisions and less time spent on the details of each contract.
Document automation can help you save time and money. With document automation, you can reduce the time it takes to execute tasks manually. This can be especially useful for law firms that have several documents to process each day.
With document automation, you can also ensure your firm can handle the number of cases it has, as well as the number of new clients that come in. It also means that you don't have to worry about people working long hours or taking on additional work when they are already tasked with something else.
With document automation, you can ensure your firm is always on the right side of the law. Automation allows you to create a system where every piece of data is properly filed and stored, so you don't have to worry about misplacing any information or losing track of it.
When you're a legal firm, it's easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day—and that means you forget your clients' interests at times. That's why automating your documentation can be so important: it lets you stay focused on what really matters: your clients.
You can automate your documentation and still give your clients the personalized service they deserve. Your clients can access their documents anytime they want, meaning you can give them the time they need without worrying about missing anything.
Evaluating legal document automation software need not be a daunting task. The best way to go about choosing software is to see what your options are. That way, you will be able to identify the features you want and choose the right software for your law firm. You can start by looking at legal document automation software designed specifically for law firms. These are often the easiest to use and most affordable.
However, if you are looking for an off-the-shelf solution, we offer VisionERA that is capable of documentation even for legal firms.
Note: You can get started with VisionERA today itself without having to pay a single penny. Our $0 invoicing policy lets our customers pay only after seeing satisfactory results. No risk and absolutely no obligations!
To start a free trial, click on our free trial button.
To get a detailed walkthrough of our platform, schedule a demo with our automation experts.