The “what” and “why” of document automation with Thomson Reuters Contract ExpressIs your legal practice or law department still writing letters instead of sending email? Are you using word-processing programs to draft contracts? The answer to the first question is no doubt a resounding “no.” The answer to the second question is more likely “yes.”

Therein lies the problem: lawyers have stopped writing and snail-mailing letters but the migration to document automation is proving to be much slower.

That’s why it’s important to understand the benefits of document automation. Contract Express® pushes your legal practice or law department in the right direction with improved workflow efficiency, consistency, compliance, accuracy, mitigated risk, speed, less spend, fewer bottlenecks, and the creation of a high-quality work product.

That covers the “why” of document automation. Now let’s explore the “what.”

Customers of Thomson Reuters realize that our products integrate to enhance and streamline workflow. You’ll see Practical Law Automated Documents powered by Contract Express alongside Drafting Assistant to help build your documents. With a suite of drafting solutions that communicate, integrate, and automate, legal professionals can realize the benefits of automation.

Document automation is not newIt’s true – document automation is not new. It has been around since the ’90s. Contract Express is more than 10 years old. Along the way, Contract Express has been improving parallel and sequential workflows, and the way lawyers, knowledge managers, and information technology (IT) professionals collaborate to bring legal practice into the 21st century.

Consider how your organization assembles and executes non-disclosure agreements, lease agreements, due diligence reports, incorporation documents, consultant agreements, and much more. Is any of that automated … and if not, why not?

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When you choose Contract Express, here’s what happensTemplates are created and approved by leadership in collaboration with lawyers, IT, and extended teams. Risk is mitigated when laterals or new hires come on board and compliance is no longer in question. Workfl ow is streamlined because documents are drafted and executed faster and better.

A powerful, intuitive questionnaire drives step-by-step document creation with more accuracy and less risk. (Notice the repeated elimination of risk.) Rather than manually adding names and addresses multiple times – with a high margin for error – the patented Contract Express engine collects one answer to a series of sequential questions, then populates it throughout the document, regardless of whether it’s fi ve pages or 600.

What’s the workfl ow in your legal practice?Imagine for a moment how lawyers and extended teams work in your organization. How many lawyers, paralegals, associates, assistants, and knowledge management professionals touch your legal documents? Now calculate how much time each individual is spending to ensure accuracy of documents. Finally, think about the software being used to deliver a timely document.

Here’s what may be happening in your organization: Workfl ow is not effi cient. Lawyers and extended teams are spending too much time manually touching every page of a document. Multiple departments review a draft sequentially – not in parallel. Errors are repeated that draw out the process.

Contract Express can alleviate ALL of thatEvery single corporation and law fi rm must compete. Competition may mean different things to different people, but one thing is for sure – being able to successfully compete to earn new business or sell more products begins with workfl ow effi ciency, no matter where you work.

It’s time to turn to Contract Express. If you’re already using Practical Law® Canada, the next logical step is to use Contract Express to take your exemplar documents and templates to the next level.

www.thomsonreuters.ca/contract-express

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Contract Express is a Thomson Reuters web-based solution, trusted by the world’s leading law fi rms and corporations for automation of legal document assembly.

www.thomsonreuters.ca/contract-express

The What and Why of Document Automation with Contract Express

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