HotDocs has been available to create extraordinary document automation systems in an online mode for nearly fifteen years, first via HotDocs Server, and more recently via HotDocs Document Services and HotDocs Cloud Services. It supports innovative service delivery methods that combine the power of machine intelligence and network distribution.
For legal service providers, cloud-based assembly doesn’t just make document creation more convenient; it opens up new ways to allocate work to the most appropriate resources. Document apps in online portals support full or unbundled service delivery. Clients can fill out questionnaires and produce drafts with or without lawyer review.
La mayoría de las aplicaciones de redacción de documentos, tanto en línea como fuera de línea, siguen implicando a usuarios individuales. Una persona interactúa con el software para introducir información o generar documentos. A veces, varias personas se turnan para trabajar en el mismo asunto o transacción. Por ejemplo, un abogado pide a su secretaria que introduzca los datos básicos. O bien, los clientes interactúan con cuestionarios inteligentes a través de una extranet para reducir el coste de la recopilación de datos y proporcionar orientación básica.
These hand-offs raise interesting possibilities, such as ‘templates built for two,’ in which different experiences surface depending on the user’s role as a client or service provider. Client-facing versions of intelligent questionnaires – or entire sites and apps – can use appropriate vocabulary and be personalized. The very language can be switched – say from English to Japanese – based on a user’s profile or momentary preference.
Imagine an estate planning system in which attorneys see this:
Después de que los clientes proporcionen información básica y decisiones provisionales en una interfaz como esta:
(Este ejemplo se basa en una aplicación de Legal Systematics SpeedMatters™).
This sequential client/lawyer scenario is an example of the “co-production” of legal work.
La coproducción se da actualmente en los departamentos jurídicos de las empresas, que proporcionan servicios de elaboración de contratos «hágalo usted mismo» al personal sobre el terreno. Y en contextos sin ánimo de lucro, pro bono y «low bono», en los que las personas que no pueden permitirse abogados con tarifas comerciales aprovechan servicios desagregados como la redacción por encargo.
Document systems can also be engineered for cooperative work among lawyers. For example, they can be modularized to allow specialists to focus on distinct aspects of a large transaction: tax experts here, environmental law gurus here, intellectual property folks over here. Lead counsel can review the consolidated input and make final adjustments. Such systems can usefully support the partner/associate relationship. Associates may do much of the answer configuration and drafting, while supervising partners can access features for quick review and commentary.
Virtual practice and e-lawyering are hardly all-or-nothing propositions. In-person, face-to-face meetings will (thankfully) be with most of us for the indefinite future. But interacting with clients, colleagues, counterparties, and decision makers through electronic media is increasingly convenient. And those media don’t just overcome limitations of time and space. They enable rich forms of human engagement, some that are impracticable if not impossible in the physical world.
Marc Lauritsen, author of The Lawyer’s Guide to Working Smarter with Knowledge Tools, is president of Capstone Practice Systems and of Legal Systematics. He’s a fellow of the College of Law Practice Management and co-chairs the American Bar Association’s eLawyering Task Force.
Nota de la Redacción: Este artículo se publicó originalmente en HotDocs.com. En junio de 2024, Mitratech adquirió la plataforma avanzada de automatización de documentos, HotDocs. El contenido ha sido actualizado desde entonces para incluir información alineada con nuestra oferta de productos, cambios en la regulación y cumplimiento.
