Is Document Drafting Software Enough?

I speak with so many lawyers who crave their document creation software. As a practicing estate and elder law attorney I couldn't agree more, but, it's really a false sense of security. In reality what lawyers really crave is the confidence that the trust they provide their clients is legally correct.

As a result many attorneys settle for a short-term solution in trying to solve their long-term needs which is being effective for clients. The problem with most document creation software today is that it is so attorney dependent. While that sounds good, the reality is the result is that lawyers are working 60‑plus hours a week.

A good document creation software should have the legal technical sufficient to provide the client what they need, but more importantly, should be able to be generated by someone other than the lawyer. For example, a good document creation software should have a design template which allows the attorney to customize the estate plan they want for the client, without having to physically enter the software to do it. This is something that I have become very comfortable with in the legal document creation software that I utilize because it allows me to be creative and create a custom plan for each client, without having to physically open up the software.

Instead, I can document my wishes on a design template and provide that information to a key member who can generate the trust just as I designed it! The distinction between traditional document creation software and the software I use is systemization. I can identifying the core elements necessary to design an effective and efficient estate plan that allows the client access to all legal avenues, not just the same ones you consistently do.

With most lawyers, if you take a look at the last ten trusts they did, they're all the same with the exception of the names. While the attorney feels good, the reality is the quality of the customization is minimal. Even worse, to customize a plan requires excessive work for the attorney because they have to manually do it in the software.

Bottom line is that good document creation software will not only allow the attorney the freedom to customize each plan, but also will allow them to delegate the drafting confidentially so that he can focus on the real needs of the client not the technical applications of the software. So does your software allow you the freedom? If not it's time to consider changing. Dave Z