We are almost done, but there is one thing we haven't done - communicate with the people who matter most! All too often, software is developed without real user input. The result is an application that appears to some users to be poorly thought out, "clunky", or contains a whole host of features that many users think "this is nice, but it could be so much nicer". Don't let that happen to your document assembly system - get as much information as possible from the people who matter most - the people who use it and therefore, represent the profit of the system.

Professional Staff

Consult with the persons who will be responsible for the content of the documents your system will output - lawyers and paralegals. Do not discount paralegals if your firm has them, as they are quite often the staff who handle more documents day to day than anyone else.

• Check with them to ensure the documents are correct
• Have them review your list of precedents & documents to ensure you do not have any outdated documents
• In respect of each template and the collated documents that reflect variations of that template, check that you have covered as much of the optional wording as possible. Ask them if they are constantly redrafting parts of any of the precedents and incorporate their responses
• Ensure you have a "senior authority" that you can ratify "user requested content" with

In short, collect as much knowledge as you can up front. A good question for them is "Are there any paragraphs and clauses you are constantly drafting over and over? Anything you get sick of dictating or amending more than once or twice a week?" "Are there any documents you draft from scratch every time?"

Support Staff

The persons who will use the system, such as paralegals, secretaries and support staff. No matter how "perfect" the content is, these are the staff who will use the system and it will need to help them day to day. The goal is to make their life easier and more efficient so they can undertake more work without more hours. Find out what they want, find out things that they will find helpful - it may be things like:

• A pre-programmed list of fees and town agents and the like
• Pre-programmed list of clients they commonly do work for day in and day out.
• Checklists that they follow, which could be included in the system to list only the relevant items for that matter

Good questions for them are "What do you get sick of doing in documents that you do all the time" or perhaps "What do you do in your day to day documents that is repetitive" or even "Have you noticed anything that is dictated to you over and over again". Get them to show you examples - ask them if they ever get a sense of de ja vu! If they do, its almost guaranteed that it will be something that can be automated and almost totally removed from their work schedule!

Staff Make The System

This process of asking the staff will ensure that the system you build contains far more than your precedent base contains. One of the primary goals and benefits of document assembly is to make re-drafting redundant. The only way to achieve this is to find out from the professional and support staff what they are constantly re-drafting and program it into the system so they can stop re-drafting. If precedents contained all the drafting a user ever needed, there'd be no need for document assembly - so make it happen BEFORE you spend hours programming! Get their documents and "personal stash" of precedents - find out what they are constantly doing the same every matter or on some matters and incorporate it into your new system. Find out what lists they constantly look up and enter data from and program it for them!

I know, I know - its crazy to suggest that you speak with the people who will use your system (and give them what they want) but please, do it anyway.

This approach not only provides the content for a far better system, it will get your system more "market acceptance". Do you have anyone in your firm that wont want to change the way they do their precedents? I have encountered or heard of at least one in at least every firm I've ever dealt with. But if you have canvassed the professional and support staff for their ideas and input, they are far more likely to accept a system they had a hand in - get some buy-in. Also, you can tell them that you are always open to constructive criticism - which should be the bare truth, because it is how the system will improve and grow with your firm. They are more likely to take you at your word on criticism (and spend the time to give it) if you have already shown you care what they think, want to work with them, and give them something like what they asked for.