How To Choose The Best Legal Drafting Software For Your Firm?

I love to draft out documents from scratch every single time, said no one ever. And even if someone did enjoy this tedious process, there are probably other more mission-critical tasks a lawyer can put their time and attention towards. Hence the boom of drafting assistants took place in the past couple of years. 

That said, there are now dozens of alternative solutions on the market. Some are simpler and much more streamlined. Others are filled with complex functionality and potential for optimization. 

Which one is the best fit for your law firm?

The ‘why’

One must understand why they need a particular software solution before they can proceed to the digital shopping mall. 

What we mean by this is that you should have a clear picture of which processes and practices you need to automate. Where will the software be used? How are you intending on using it? Etc.

This step is essential due to a variety of reasons. A commonly used Jack of all trades solution is probably not a good fit for companies who have specific standards and branding policies in their workflow… Unless they need something to standardize some workflow elements in order to operate better with drafts and documents they receive from other companies.

Both of these highly specific use cases are in direct opposition to one another, yet both solutions might become an integral element of a business process. The question is – which of them do you need in your practice and why. 

Try answering several of these questions before reading the article further:

• Why do I need a drafting assistant?
• Which business processes need to be improved through automation?
• What are my end goals?
• Where will the solution fit within set goals?
• How much ROI am I expecting to receive? 

The perfect solution

There is a popular opinion amongst software developers a lot of business owners and executives share: there are no silver bullets when it comes to automated solutions. 

While that statement is true, to an extent, there’s always the option of mixing and matching. You can find an almost perfect assembly of technologies, each of which will make minor improvements to your firm’s processes resulting in a major impact on the bigger picture. 

Here are several parameters you should keep a close eye on when gathering the perfect box of the right tools for the job.

Integration

Any piece of technology needs to play nicely with the tools you are already using. Some of the best solutions are not only compatible with the software you have. They can be integrated directly into your workflow without causing any disruption. 

Reliability

Given the specifics of working with documents in the legal industry, every comma matters. You can not trust drafting to a system that fails to use proper wording or is incapable of finding errors in clauses after several people have worked on a document. Looking at the vendor’s reputation online as well as on their product’s reviews should nudge you in the right direction. Alternatively, most solutions offer either free trials or product demos you need to check out. 

Security

A 2020 American Bar Association report pointed out that 29% of law firms reported a security breach, with 36% reporting past malware infections. 

Given the sensitive nature of personal information, most law firms are working with, security standards must be a priority when choosing a drafting assistant. This is pivotal due to a plethora of reasons, but the primary one is that a third-party software system is operating outside of your established perimeter. The developers of a SaaS solution follow their own security protocols. 

In addition to that, they often rely on external APIs which can then be used to break into their system. This breach can potentially access your data and records as well. 

UI/UX

A lot of the solutions on the market offer access to a wide range of features. While not entirely a bad thing, this can result in lower adoption rates as the concept of investing a lot of time to master a drafting assistant seems counterintuitive given that the solution is designed to save time. 

Clunky and unwieldy solutions force lawyers to return to pen and paper. As such, the interface and overall user experience are both important elements to keep an eye out for. 

Become the architect

All things considered, there’s quite a lot you need to keep in your head while choosing the set of tools to fill in the shoes of the perfect drafting assistant. That said, there’s a great alternative to pre-made software. It comes in the form of custom development. 

Custom software development allows you to become the architect of your own software. Simply come to the right vendor with a list of requirements and they will code them into reality. This approach has a series of advantages such as reduced operational costs, better integration, a superior approach to security, and much higher flexibility when it comes to functionality. On the downside, the upfront cost is probably higher than purchasing a license of a SaaS product. 

The choice is yours to make.