Digital White Papers

26 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER OFFICE 365 The Proof Is in the Program: Five Office 365 Add-Ins that Transform Text Companion offers the option to assign the cross-references (which simplifies Microso's built-in feature). Contract Tools and Compass do not offer the option to fix, assign or update cross-references. I'd like to see one of these tools take the document analysis further and retroactively add cross-references to an existing document in one gesture. Writing Style Legal documents have grown longer, more complex and more jargon- filled. But now courts and clients are demanding shorter and more readable legal documents and professors of legal writing encourage a return to simplicity. Products in this category improve legal writing style by simplifying and clarifying text, which can be semi- substantive; and enforcing non-substantive style preferences, such as presentation, word choice and word order. If you're trying to simplify text and write in plain English, WordRake is the ideal solution. Its editing recommendations are unmatched. Compass, Contract Tools and Contract Companion do not provide this checking, while PerfectIt provides limited, but complementary, checking in this area. WordRake uses its own list of commonly used legal words and phrases, such as "in addition to," "pursuant to," and "in accordance with," and replaces them with simpler words such as "besides" and "under." WordRake also fixes passive phrasing and removes redundancies. The recommendations are shown all at once using the track changes feature, which you may accept or reject. I like that WordRake causes me to rethink my use of legalese and jargon, to which I have become desensitized. If you are trying to follow legal writing guides or your firm's house style, then use PerfectIt. PerfectIt's checking pulls together leading guidance on legal writing so lawyers and staff can quickly apply the rules, style, guidelines and writing techniques expected of them. No other legal soware enforces the guidance found in: The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation; The Red Book: A Manual On Legal Style; and Black's Law Dictionary. For PerfectIt, I like that I can create style sheets for each partner, practice group, court, judge or region. This customization makes it easy to remember and apply the oen-conflicting preferences of different people and groups. WordRake and PerfectIt are complementary. They combine superbly to manage legal writing style issues and to avoid some of the most difficult parts of the collaborative draing process. Consistency Reviewing for consistency requires checking for: » Capitalization of words, phrases and headings » Punctuation of bullet points and lists » Hyphenation of prefixes, suffixes, terms of art and defined terms » Paired punctuation, such as quotation marks » Presentation of numbers » Spacing between words and sentences Most users will only choose one tool in this category. However, each product is very different. PerfectIt is a great complement to a contract-focused tool. Courts and clients are demanding shorter and more readable legal documents and professors of legal writing encourage a return to simplicity.

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