Today's Tech: How Litigators Use Scrivener (Part 1)

Lawyers have increasingly used Scrivener to create complex documents in their practices. Is it the right tool for you?

I discovered Scrivener, ($35-70 depending on which version you purchase), a writer’s tool which is a powerful complex document creation program for Macs and PC-users, in 2010, and subsequently used it to write the first draft of my book, “Cloud Computing for Lawyers.” As I was using it, it occurred to me that it had the potential to be a really useful tool for litigators and appellate attorneys, as I wrote about here.

Since I wrote that article, lawyers have increasingly used Scrivener to create complex documents in their practices. Because it’s such an incredibly useful tool, I figured it was worth exploring how some lawyers were using it in their practices.

In today’s column you’ll meet two attorneys and learn how — and why — they use Scrivener for legal writing. And then in my next column, you’ll learn how two other attorneys are likewise using this incredibly flexible and powerful software program to streamline their legal analysis and craft better documents.

First, there’s Stephen Chakwin, who is an attorney with The Flomenhaft Law Firm, PLLC, a New York City law firm that handles personal injury matters, with most of their cases involving clients who sustained brain injuries.

As a litigator, Stephen often uses Scrivener as part of his trial preparation process: “I use Scrivener to organize projects and cases for trial and also as a list of steps (and commentaries on the steps), a process that helps me articulate my thoughts and experiences and capture them on a screen.”

For Stephen, Scrivener streamlines his document preparation in two very important ways. “First, it acts as a kind of desktop for a project. You can put your source materials or references into the same giant project file that your document is in and refer to them without having to leave your document,” he explains. “This is a great convenience and also helps later when you’ve finished your document. If you need to retrace the steps you took to come up with something in the document, it’s easy to do.”

Stephen also uses Scrivener as a tool to build a document in modules. This process allows him to visualize the elements of the document as he creates it, thus streamlining his thought processes. “With Scrivener you can compose sections of a longer document in one window on the screen with each section appearing as a headline in an outline on another part of the screen. As you write the document sections, your understanding of the logical flow of the whole document may develop into something different from what you originally envisioned as your writing of the sections develops — you may see the sequence of ideas in a different way or realize that you need to develop a new point or sub-point between ideas that you thought could stand on their own.”

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According to Stephen, one reason that Scrivener is a vast improvement over traditional word processors is because it simplifies the editing process.  “In a normal word processor, you would be off in a world of cutting and pasting and writing in new sections,” he says. “In Scrivener, you can restructure the document by simply moving the outline heads around and — if you don’t like what you had thought would be the new arrangement — you can simply move them back or into a new relationship with one another. Your ability to edit without fear becomes unlimited. You can even save the original form of the document and then make a series of provisional changes to it and cycle among them to see which has the best flow.”

Another lawyer who uses Scrivener as part of his litigation practice is Clay Rossi. Clay is an attorney with Gerth & Rossi, LLC, a personal injury and business litigation law firm in Mobile, Alabama.

Clay has been using Scrivener since 2012 as a way to organize his document-intensive cases.  “I put entire cases into Scrivener and store the discovery in the research section,” he explains. “It gives me a simple way to manage information in a speedy and sleek way.”

Because Scrivener makes it easy to store, organize, and access large numbers of documents in one place, it tends to be popular with appellate lawyers. Clay is one of those lawyers, explaining that “one of my favorite uses is for appellate work.” He continues, “I think technology needs to serve the natural habits and inclinations of the lawyer. For me, Scrivener fits perfectly.”

Clay’s advice for lawyers considering Scrivener is to “give it a test drive on a non-law area of personal interest. That keeps the pressure down and lets you have fun with it.”

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Stephen suggests taking advantage of the free trial: “Get the trial — it has an extended free trial period — and play with it. Start on a very basic level and master one aspect of it at a time. Don’t rush and don’t try to get too ambitious. Think of it as rock climbing: you go from one toehold up to the next.”

According to Stephen, lawyers who will get the most benefit out of Scrivener are those who “are comfortable working with documents on computers; people who handle complex issues or documents; and people who have to deal with multiple references, issues, parties, or other things that need to be tracked and handled consistently throughout a project.”

If that sounds like you, then Scrivener might be the perfect super-charged word processing program for your law practice. But before you take the plunge, check back next week to learn how two other lawyers are using Scrivener in their practices.

And, as always, if you or an attorney you know is using technology in a creative or unusual way in your law firm, drop me an email at niki.black@mycase.com. I’m always looking for new attorneys — or judges — to feature in this column.


Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York attorney and the Legal Technology Evangelist at MyCase, web-based law practice management software. She’s been blogging since 2005, has written a weekly column for the Daily Record since 2007, is the author of Cloud Computing for Lawyers, co-authors Social Media for Lawyers: the Next Frontier, and co-authors Criminal Law in New York. She’s easily distracted by the potential of bright and shiny tech gadgets, along with good food and wine. You can follow her on Twitter at@nikiblack and she can be reached at niki.black@mycase.com.

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