09 Oct 2024

Create First Drafts of Legal Documents in Minutes by Answering a Few Questions from Lexis Automated Templates

By: LexisNexis Practical Guidance

Every lawyer has experienced the frustration of managing a seemingly endless stream of legal documents, in which they are stuck manually drafting one document at a time and can never seem to get ahead of the workload. A newly enhanced technology-enabled solution promises to ease that burden by doing the heavy lifting of document creation, freeing up time for lawyers to focus on higher-value tasks involving legal strategy and counseling.

Introducing Lexis Automated Templates

Lexis Automated Templates empowers law firms of all sizes to build multiple documents simultaneously with exceptional speed and efficiency. The tool draws on an unmatched library of content from Lexis Practical Guidance, seamless integration into the LexisNexis legal research ecosystem and continuous updates based on changes in the legal landscape to automate the assembly of legal documents. The result is a significant reduction in the time spent manually drafting individual documents.

Here is how the tool works: Automated Templates guides you through a streamlined document creation process to help you generate drafts quickly and with confidence. You walk through an intelligent question-and-answer workflow that provides the tool with the essential information it needs to begin generating a draft document unique to your specific matter and requirements. There are currently 15 practice areas and more than 3,000 document templates supported by the tool. Once the draft has been created, you can email your document for review or download and edit in Microsoft Word to finalize.

A new enhancement to the tool has elevated the power of Lexis Automated Templates by making it easier for users to draft multiple documents at once. This is made possible by the creation of a single “answer file” for each client matter that contains all of the factual information needed to generate drafts of various legal documents. The lawyer simply directs the tool to draw from the answer file each time they wish to assemble a new document template and can easily toggle between various templates during a drafting session.

A bonus benefit of this new feature is that answer files can be saved and reused, so a lawyer can save even more time when drafting related documents … or even when drafting future documents for different clients.

Lexis Automated Templates are currently available for the following areas of practice:

  • Bankruptcy
  • Business Entities
  • Capital Markets/Corporate Governance
  • Civil Litigation
  • Commercial Transactions
  • Corporate and M&A
  • Criminal Law
  • Data Security & Privacy
  • Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation
  • Family Law
  • Finance
  • Intellectual Property & Technology
  • Labor & Employment
  • Real Estate
  • Trusts & Estates/Probate

Real-World Results

Lexis Automated Templates is producing demonstrable benefits for law firms in real-world use. The primary benefit that law firms are reporting is resource optimization. By maximizing their time, firms are able to reduce the need for overtime or even additional staffing, leading to cost savings for clients and the firm.

“I use automated templates to help start attorney drafts, which speeds up the process and completion of the document needed,” said Nancy Herrera, practice specialist at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton.

Moreover, instead of waiting for one document to finish before starting another, legal professionals can now work on multiple documents for the same client matter in a single session, utilizing one answer file to power the automation.

The early adopters of Lexis Automated Templates are also reporting improved client service and more consistent work product creation.

“I was recently asked to advise a client which state would be most advantageous for a specific kind of business agreement,” said William Simon, solo practitioner at William D. Simon PLLC. “Materials from Practical Guidance — particularly the automated templates and drafting notes — permitted me to respond quickly and efficiently in a way that was useful to the client.”

With an unmatched combination of robust legal content, advanced automation capabilities and seamless integration, Lexis Automated Templates provides lawyers with the tools to accelerate legal document drafting without sacrificing work product quality.

Experience Lexis Practical Guidance

Lexis Automated Templates are integrated into Lexis+ and Lexis Practical Guidance. Practical Guidance features authored content from more than 2,000 leading practitioners across all major practice areas, including expert authors from 98% of Am Law 100 firms.

A 2024 survey of Lexis Practical Guidance customers by TechValidate found that 80% of users experience at least a 10% efficiency boost in their legal research, with 84% reporting that Practical Guidance saves them 1-4 hours weekly in legal research time.

Lexis Practical Guidance provides access to a wide range of resources — from templates and checklists to practice notes and authoritative analysis — that help lawyers develop the critical knowledge needed to accomplish the most complex tasks, including those outside of their primary areas of expertise. Click here for a free trial of Lexis+ Practical Guidance.