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42 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 | S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 happy with its functionality and performance. I'm not asserting that you can't automate your own templates, but just because you can doesn't mean you should. All or most of the platforms either offer to automate templates for you, or they have a network of outside consultancy firms they can refer you to for that task. Here are the considerations to think about before deciding how to approach it: A R E Y O U A M I C R O S O F T W O R D E X P E R T ? I can tell you with absolutely certainty that only a tiny percentage of legal users have full mastery of Word. Any good DA platform can fill in blanks, calculate results, punctuate lists and conditionally include or exclude text. If your underlying Word template isn't set up correctly with styles, automatic paragraph numbering and Word's other advanced functionality, then you're very likely to have formatting messes in every document you generate. On the other hand, if the underlying Word structure is solid, you can avoid all formatting glitches in the resulting documents. If you believe a template is set up correctly from a Word perspective, you can always email it to me (bhenley@ affinityconsulting.com) and I'll give you a free analysis of what Word functionality (if any) isn't being used but should be; and what structural issues are present. H O W M U C H T I M E C A N Y O U A L L O C AT E T O T H E P R O C E S S ? Depending upon the complexity of what you're automating, this can be an extremely time-consuming process. If you want to do it yourself, you're going to need to carve out a lot of regularly-scheduled time to work on the templates. Any seasoned template developer will tell you that the longer you leave a partially completed template alone, the harder it is to return to it and figure Q 1 W H I T E P A P E R S ILTA & Microsoft Fireside Chat Joy Heath Rush and Ben Grimes Join ILTA CEO Joy Heath Rush and Microsoft Vice President, Northeast Region, Ben Grimes, as they get together, fresh off a January legal summit in Atlanta. Together, they talk tech, advocacy, innovation, and much more. Check out this all-new podcast from ILTA and Microsoft! listen now!

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