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21 I L T A N E T . O R G W hile the incorporation of technology into the practice of law is nothing new, 2020 has seen unprecedented levels of technology adoption across all firm sizes and practice areas. Between the necessity of remote work caused by the pandemic and encouragement of technology by regulatory bodies and courts, digital transformation at law firms continues to pick up speed. Document automation is at the center of that transformation. Law firms can't exist without documents – creating and processing documents is integral to the daily practice of law, and the accuracy of those documents is critical to both client success and law firm efficiency. Today's workflow automation capabilities allow for document automation at every step of the document life cycle. Law firms now digitally create, review, sign, and file documents with the help of automation, machine learning, and AI tools. In a "born digital" model, a document is created in digital form, and serves its entire lifecycle without being printed. These advances in document automation are a centerpiece of the modern law firm's drive toward a complete digital transformation that allows for better client engagement, collaboration, risk reduction, and compliance. The Acceleration of Legal Technology Technology was already on a trajectory to revolutionize nearly every aspect of legal practice. The current pandemic has now put that acceleration into overdrive. As the legal workforce, like much of the rest of the world, found itself in unexpected and unprecedented remote work scenarios, the scramble to find technologies to make that remote work possible began in earnest. As law firms settled into work-from-home for the long haul, they no longer only needed remote work to be possible, they also needed it to be practical and efficient. As a result, technologies like videoconferencing, e-signature tools, virtual notaries, and expanded cloud computing became ubiquitous across law firms as the year went on. Transforming manual processes into digital processes is now the name of the game. In what has been described as "the perfect pandemic acquisition," e-signature giant DocuSign acquired virtual notary company Liveoak Technologies to facilitate the manual-to-digital transition. Courts and regulatory bodies are also playing an increasing role in accelerating digital transformation in the legal industry. Courts across the country are expanding and even encouraging the use of convenient technologies like e-filing or video tools at hearings. Various regulatory bodies are issuing ethics opinions and expediting rule changes to encourage the use of technology and support its integration into the ordinary course of practicing law. The driver behind all these trends is the same: the need to be able to practice law efficiently and effectively with little to no in-person interaction. What this means for law firms is that digital transformation is alive and well. The Role of Document Automation in Digital Transformation Law firms are on a constant path to finding greater efficiencies. Digital transformation is about finding those efficiencies, increasing law firm agility, and improving the customer experience through the use of technology. While digital transformation might look slightly different at each firm, one common denominator is replacing manual processes with automation and digitization. Few areas of legal practice stand to gain as much from digitization as document creation, assembly, and processing. Preparing documents is one of the most important core functions of practicing law, but one that has traditionally been time-consuming, tedious, repetitive, and largely

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