Where Do You Sit On The Automation Success Scale?

By Elizabeth Basten, Chief Marketing Officer at Clarilis

The Rise and Rise of Automation Technology

The changes in the use of technology forced by the global pandemic have prompted a new appetite among law firm leadership for re-evaluating digital platforms. As a result, firms that previously dismissed document automation are now realising that today’s changed legal landscape is less tolerant of inefficient processes.  

Sitting on the frontline of drafting technology for the legal sector, we have seen it all when it comes to document automation toolkits; the good, the bad and the downright ugly.  As a result, we are not only experts in delivering successful automation projects that deliver real value, but we have also developed processes to help you evaluate your aptitude for automation.

Our Automation Audit is a way to use our extensive experience in the legal sector to benchmark your current drafting process against those of your industry peers. This is helpful insight when you are planning what to do next.

Where does your firm sit on the automation success scale? Are you reaping the opportunities created by fully operational, deep automations of complex suites of documents? Or maybe you are struggling to patch over the cracks of a shallow solution that you hastily implemented to tick a box? Whether you want reassurance that your automation is industry-leading or you’re seeking proof to support your case for investing in new technology, our Automation Audit gives you this insight.

Where to Start with Document Automation Technology?

Automated drafting was probably hovering somewhere in your firm’s conscience way before 2020 made it a priority. Have you been losing work to firms who are already using automated platforms? Maybe you are struggling to compete with rival practices that are drafting documents in a fraction of the time and cost you can? Whether you are yet to make the leap into automated drafting or battling with a legacy system that’s failing, before you move forward you need to understand exactly where you are.

To help law firms effectively evaluate their current situation, we have created our Automation Audit tool. It’s a simple survey aimed to help you benchmark your current situation, identify areas you should focus on to improve your drafting processes, and recognise areas where a more effective automation could increase productivity and deliver a better service to your clients.

Measuring a Successful Automation

We find the law firms that get the full benefits from our automated drafting solutions aren’t investing in technology to curate an appearance of being cutting edge. Or to meet the requirements of a tender request. And they’re not focused entirely on goals around saving time or efficiency.

Instead of fixating on the vanity aspects, and the time or money saved, they focus on how automating the routine features of drafting releases their lawyers to generate more profitable revenue. This is what we call increasing ‘Return on the Lawyer’, or ROL.

ROL is a more holistic measure of the purpose and value of automated drafting. Our Automation Audit is designed to give you a more complete evaluation of not only your current automation progress but also any missed opportunities to increase your ROL through automation. This is achieved by encouraging you to think about your drafting process in three contexts.

The Three Areas to Consider

Our Automation Audit combines your answers in three important areas to build a more complete picture of whether your drafting processes are supporting you to get the best possible return on your investment in people and technology.

1) Speed & Efficiency

Are you rapidly drafting complex agreements and documents in a way that gives you a competitive advantage? Or are you relying on partial automation, with basic tools that can only handle simple documents?

2) Consistency

Are you confident that documents are being drafted with complete consistency in a risk mitigated way across every matter? Is this true regardless of who in your firm is doing the work?

3) People

Does your firm’s working culture allow you to attract and retain the brightest legal talent? Is your document creation process helping you to improve job satisfaction? Is your firm able to continuously improve its client service? Finally, are you getting a solid return on your investment in people and technology?

Take the free Clarilis Automation Audit.

And if you’d like to discuss your results, please get in touch.

[ Artificial Lawyer is proud to bring you this sponsored thought leadership article. ]