Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers document assembly software with built-in knowledge management (see article below), a document archiving system, and a practice management and electronic billing system for corporate legal departments. Don't miss the next issue.
Shift Your Document Drafting Into Overdrive
By Peter R. Olson
Lawyers will never admit it even behind closed doors, but the profession's dirty little secret is that much of time billed during document drafting involves non-legal work like chasing down templates and formatting documents. Eliminating these inefficiencies can boost revenue in the case of law firms (charge the same for less work) and reduce costs in the case of corporate legal departments. But how?
Ixio Legal QShift Version 2.0 ... in One Sentence
Ixio Legal QShift 2.0 is a clause-based document assembly system that automates document drafting by enabling everyone in your office to use your best templates along with alternative clauses and instructions on how and when to use them.
The Killer Feature
Ixio Legal QShift captures the knowledge associated with each document. It keeps track of who drafted it and when, the best practice template used as the source and where it's stored, and most importantly why the clauses in the document were selected.
By capturing the author's thought processes while drafting the document, Ixio Legal QShift creates a contemporaneous log of the author's expressed intention — helpful if questions, problems, or disputes later arise.
Other Notable Features
When creating templates, you can elect to make clauses optional or required. In alternative clause situations, you can designate one as the default, and also create rules such as "choose at least one," "choose only one," etc. To further help those using the templates, you can annotate templates and clauses.
Ixio Legal QShift enables you to create a consistent look to documents, eliminating the need for your colleagues to waste time formatting. The template-based system also makes it easy to update templates firm-wide since you need only make the changes in one place. There's no need to worry about several different versions floating around the office.
If drafters have a question, they can email the author from within Ixio Legal QShift. These dialogues are saved along with the annotations for the benefit of others. Similarly, you can use this email capture technology with opposing counsel to save time when renewing a contract or negotiating multiple contracts for similar deals with the same parties.
What Else Should You Know?
Ixio Legal QShift requires Windows 2000 or XP. Ixio licenses the software on a subscription basis and also offers template creation and training services. An Author License (create and use templates) sells for $99 per user per month, whereas a Drafter License (use templates) sells for $59 per user per month. The licenses include upgrades and technical support. Learn more about Ixio Legal QShift 2.0.
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