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22 P E E R T O P E E R : I L T A ' S Q U A R T E R L Y M A G A Z I N E | F A L L 2 0 2 0 reliant on manual processes. In addition to being inefficient, manual document assembly creates a risk of human error that is simply too high for a profession that requires accuracy. Compliance with KYC and sanctions requirements, among other things, have increased concerns at law firms and raised the bar for accuracy and efficiency in document preparation. At its core, document automation is the process of taking the documents and forms you use every day and converting them into dynamic templates that can be used in the future to create and prepare new documents. The document automation software guides whoever is creating the document through an interview in order to input the crucial information for populating the variables in the templates. The most sophisticated document automation programs employ internal logic to guide users to the final product in the most accurate and efficient way possible. For interrelated documents or document sets, these tools will share inputs across variables in all documents, further increasing efficiency and saving time. Even though much of document preparation is not high-level substantive work, it used to take lawyers hours to complete a single document – work which would then be repeated for other related documents or each time a similar document with slightly different information was needed. Document automation eliminates significant amounts of document preparation time by offering a streamlined way to modify and insert standard clauses across documents, ensuring consistency of terms, styles, and layout across groups of documents, and allowing for the requirement of additional permissions for sensitive or high-value transactions. Simply put, with document automation, very little is left to personal judgment and there's minimal chance for human error. You get consistency and accuracy at a level you could never hope to achieve with manual document preparation. The utility of document automation tools is also not limited to internal use. Because document automation is available for any routine documents or forms, some firms are choosing to offer the tools to clients so they can use the interviews themselves to start the document creation process. This enables a form of self-service that has not previously been feasible with manual document preparation. Document automation also speeds up the process of finalizing documents, significantly cutting down the time needed for review and proofreading. Because assurances of consistency are built into the document creation process, there's far less time spent on searching for typos and minor human errors that can come with huge consequences. The benefits of document automation extend beyond the document output itself. Documents created with document automation software also generate valuable data that can be used by AI and machine learning tools to generate document analytics and insights on the firm's document management. From a financial perspective, document automation is a critical way to cut costs at a time when clients are increasingly pushing back on high hourly rates and large legal bills. With the push toward alternative fee arrangements and the oft-predicted death of the billable hour model, firms no longer have any incentive to have their attorneys spending hours drafting simple documents and reinventing the wheel. Clients want more accurate work delivered faster. Digital transformation, and document automation in particular, makes that possible. The time freed up by F E A T U R E S How much time does document automation save? Just ask Fenwick & West LLP. The firm has been using document automation software HotDocs firm-wide for several years, implementing it as a way to automate and speed up the document generation process. According to Mark Gerow, Director of Application Development & Business Process, "The attorneys at Fenwick have really jumped in with both feet." HotDocs has been integrated with their SharePoint environment to provide effective template management and remote access for attorneys. In an average month, over 850 legal documents were generated from 89 different HotDocs interview sessions. Gerow states, "HotDocs has allowed us to reduce turnaround time for legal document generation, allowing our attorneys to focus their expertise on addressing legal issues unique to each of our clients."

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