Legal Document Management Software | Above the Law Non-Event

Legal Tech Adoption Guide Document Management: Reviewed Products & Services

Epona

The Fastest Growing Legal Document Management System Provider on Microsoft 365

Filevine

Filevine is the leading cloud-based collaborative work solution for law firms. Powering everything from case management and document management to client communication and business analytics, Filevine’s custom and bespoke tools simplify and elevate practice management and growth.

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iManage

iManage transforms how professionals in legal, accounting and financial services get work done by combining artificial intelligence, security and risk mitigation with market-leading document and email management. iManage automates routine cognitive tasks, provides powerful insights and streamlines how professionals work, while maintaining the highest level of security and governance over critical client and corporate data.

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NetDocuments

Storing, managing, and protecting millions of documents that are created and shared by thousands of people is never easy. All too often, they become a chaotic, obtrusive, and risky burden on your organization. NetDocuments changes the equation, with a content platform that removes the barriers and transforms all your documents into an unstoppable engine for collaboration, productivity, growth, and inspired work—without limitations or restrictions.

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Legal Tech Adoption Guide Document Management: Additional Products & Services

Actionstep
A1 Tracker
Amberlo
App4Legal
Bill4time
Casefox
CasePEER
CoCounselor
Docketwise
DocStyle
eCounsel
Everlaw
Exizent
Factbox
Firm Central
Freshsales
HoudiniESQ
InfoFlo
Jubilee
Lawcus
Lawtoolbox
LawVu
LEAP
Meruscase
Monday.com
Moxo
MyCase
Nextpoint
PCLaw
Prevail Case Management Systems
ProLaw
Quickbase
Smokeball
Soluno
Tabs3
TeamConnect
Time Matters
Trialworks
uLaw Practice
VIQ Solutions
Wrike
Xakia

ATL Non-Eventcast:

Jared interviews representatives from Filevine, Foxit, MyCase, and Pathagoras, who provide high-level tips on everything from document assembly to establishing one “source of truth” in your system.

Highlights

Presenting the guests’ of today’s episode – 2:03
A word processing tool – 4:00
One of Jared’s favorite subjects and how it works – 5:17
Personalizing the document – 6:26
About document assembly – 7:56
What’s the Portable Document Format (PDF) – 8:37
PDF as a tool – 9:39
The security benefits of using PDFs – 10:19
Combining reporting and management systems – 11:39
The notion of a system of records – 12:53
The best document management system tip – 16:36
Using document management tools – 18:05

Jared welcomes Cain Elliott, Jenni Davenport, and Chris Cangero to talk about documentation. They talked about some tips and best practices as well as trends in document management for firms, as well as software features available.

Highlights

Introducing the phenomenal guests. – 1:18
It’s essential for modern law firms to manage documents using robust systems that are accessible to both staff and clients. – 2:54
What’s your favorite font? 3:27
Formatting tips and best practices for law firms and lawyers. – 6:27
How to organize these documents and keep them organized? – 12:24
Tips and suggestions on using templates and template maintenance accessibility. 21:20
The future trends of document management. – 28:57

Jared sits with VIQ Solutions Executive Vice President of Product and Strategy Elizabeth Vanneste, and NetDocuments co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Alvin Tedjamulia to discuss document management.

Highlights

Starting off with Ground Hog Day – 2:00
Stuck in the time loop with document management – 2:37
Managing workflows through software – 4:05
Evolution of document management over the past 3 decades – 6:11
Pressing on heightened data security: protection of users – 11:07
Attorneys are not technologists – 13:10
Incorporating more document management technology on courts and law firms – 14:00
Artificial Intelligence in simplifying evidence management – 19:10
Future of document management – 21:02

Jared speaks with two representatives from MyCase and DocStyle about document management best practices for law firms.

Highlights

What their favorite television productions are and why people should be watching them. – 2:48
What MyCase: What to expect and what it means for the industry. – 5:12
With the acquisitions happening in the legal space, how do they stay on top of what’s happening with the companies? – 7:03
What should you follow in terms of styling and formatting? – 9:56
Where to store the documents: The best practices and software to use. – 12:55
Is the client portal a good and effective file-sharing solution? – 15:15
Law firms moving from desktop legacy applications into the cloud: How does it work and why it shouldn’t be daunting for lawyers? – 17:23
How to manage integration with document management tools for law firms. – 22:38
What an integrated experience looks like from the perspective of a case management software user. – 24:49
What’s their favorite document management tip? – 27:24

Legal Document Management Software FAQs

What is legal document management?
There is one universal truth for all lawyers: You have many, many documents. Legal document management refers to the process by which you create, edit, manage, access, store, and share them.

What is in-app editing?
In-app editing is a feature in document management software that allows lawyers to use their word processing software of choice and have it seamlessly integrate with their legal document management software. These types of features also track revision history and other data.

How do legal document assembly programs work?
Document assembly programs allow users to assemble clauses together into a complete document. This can include a templated approach in which users are guided through a series of questions that create a personalized layout. Document assembly programs can also put together packages of documents: a real estate closing package, for example.

The ultimate goal is to build documents quickly, have them fit the firm’s templates and style guides, and provide these deliverables as quickly and easily as possible.

What is a PDF and how can law firms best manage these documents?
“Portable document format” allows the document to look exactly the same no matter what device it is opened on. PDFs are the standard in courts around the world, and also throughout the business community. PDFs also have varied security benefits, such as the ability to scrub metadata that can show a document’s revision history and other information.

What is case file management (and how does it relate to legal document management software?)
Practice management software brings varied aspects of a lawyer’s practice into one centralized system. Because lawyers tend to work primarily in documents, the document management system is a key component of any practice management tech stack.

What are the best document management systems?
The No. 1 concern of law firm owners is revenue generation, and the best way to maximize that is to lean into efficiency. The best document management systems — such as those listed in our buyers guide — allow lawyers to work faster, get through more work, and generate more value for their clients and firm. The more quickly lawyers can locate, share, revise, and finalize documents, the better off they are.

Document Management Software

By Jared Correia

There’s a term for when attorneys use Latin and other arcane languages to describe legal processes to consumers: “legalese.”

But there’s no similar term for when vendors use technical and other arcane languages to describe their legal software operations to lawyers.

True, this dynamic may seem unfair. But now we have The Legal Tech-to-English Dictionary to help us cope.

Here, we explore some common doc management terms — and provide a few scenarios in which they may arise in a lawyer’s day-to-day.

Document Management Software

1. A system that stores and organizes electronic documents allowing (potentially multiple) users to edit, save, search and share those documents.

2. A stack of redwelds.

Lawyer 1: Hey, I can’t open that document you just emailed me.

Lawyer 2: Seriously? It’s a WordPerfect file.

Lawyer 1: Uh huh.

Lawyer 2: This is just embarrassing. I mean, I can bring the floppy disc over. But, I’m charging you for that shit.

Cf. Avoid storing anything of value at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Version History

1. A software feature that captures different stages of document generation, including saved and active iterations, so that users can access a chronological record of document updates.

2. The record of changes and edits to a specific document, automatically saved via software.

Lawyer 1: FOR THE LOVE OF . . . I JUST LOST 7 HOURS OF WORK!!!

Lawyer 2: Just hit CTRL+Z for “undo.” And, if that doesn’t work, access the version history.

Lawyer 1: Wait, what?

Cf. In “Star Wars,” Darth Vader probably felt like he was the good guy.

PDF

1. A specific document format that looks the same on any device or program where it’s accessed. A scanned PDF is an image file unless OCR (optical character recognition) is applied to render/recognize the document text.

2. A document with an unmatched potential to cause frustration when attempting to edit or otherwise manipulate text in any way.

Lawyer 1: Did you open the PDF I sent you?

Lawyer 2: No, Jim! I’m not going to open palladium fluoride in a space this small, with limited ventilation! What kind of a fool do you take me for?!

Lawyer 1: So … no?

Cf. The history of movable type.

Naming Conventions

1. A classification system for naming items.

2. In document management, an agreed upon scheme for denominating files in a software system.

Lawyer 1: Hey, I think we need to go over the established law firm naming conventions again, Andy.

Lawyer 2: What do you mean?

Lawyer 1: This is a motion to dismiss, right?

Lawyer 2: Yes, and I always name those “fart noise” + a sequential number. Is there a problem here?

Lawyer 1: Get out. Now.

Cf. Utilizing dates for folders and files will ensure that all folders and files will cascade in chronological order, e.g. — “2021 06 22 Motion to Dismiss”

Paperless Office

1. A file management system that does not depend on paper documents.

2. A law firm that has adopted a paperless management system for documents and files. Paper documents that do exist are scanned and saved at an online document repository, before the paper is confidentially destroyed.

3. Definitely NOT a stack of redwelds.

Lawyer 1: I really think we need to adopt a paperless office model.

Lawyer 2: (clutching a physical file) But, I love paper so much. I just know I will miss its musk.

Lawyer 1: I’ll give you some time alone. (shuts door)

Lawyer 2: (behind the closed door) And, when this all gets sorted out, I think you and me should get an apartment together!

Cf. The development of a paperless office workflow, which is essential to converting to a paperless office. The workflow is relatively simple: create or scan, save. Rinse and repeat. But, for most traditional lawyers, the mindset change required is immensely difficult.

Jared Correia is the host of the Non-Eventcast.