Which documents should you automate?

It’s one of the most common (and important) questions we get asked - how do I choose which documents to automate?

At first glance, it seems straightforward. The usual advice is to start with the documents you draft the most often. Google says so, ChatGPT agrees, and it sounds logical? Other people will say: go for the easy wins - the documents that are simple to automate and get you results quickly.

So, which one do you pick: the document you produce 30 times a month, or the one you draft only twice a month? Based on the advice above, it’s the high-frequency one. Easy decision.

But maybe not.

What if that high-frequency document only takes five minutes to draft, while the low-frequency one takes twenty hours each time? That’s five hours of effort per month vs. forty. Suddenly, the “obvious” choice isn’t quite so obvious anymore.

Then if you layer on top elements such as how difficult is it to recruit team members in this area of law, what are the business pressures, how will it affect the client’s perception of value, who will create and maintain the automation etc., it becomes a very tricky decision.

The Real Question: What Problem Are You Trying to Solve?

In the second article of this series (Why Consider Document Automation?), I explored how the reasons for automating vary widely across practice areas and projects. But here’s a trap I’ve seen far too many firms fall into: They buy an automation toolkit and immediately start asking,

“What can we automate?” - instead of, “What should we automate?”.

That’s a crucial distinction. Because if your automation doesn’t actually solve a business problem, it’s likely to go unused, fall into disrepair, and quietly disappear from view.

ROI: Not Just About Money

So, where should you start? Start with the Return on Investment (“ROI”). But don’t just think about monetary value, instead think how much better will the new automated world be than the old manual one? That “better” might mean saving time, reducing risk, improving consistency, increasing capacity, raising recovery rates, winning or retaining clients etc.

For example:

• If your problem is risk mitigation, then even short, frequently drafted documents drafted by junior team members, like notices or board minutes might be the right candidate.
• If you're facing time pressure on deals, fee pressure, and/or bandwidth constraints, then automating a complex but infrequent document, like a facilities agreement, might yield far more value.

(And while calculating the value of “less risk” isn’t easy, that doesn’t make it any less important.)

Don’t Forget the TOTAL Cost

What many people underestimate is the Total Cost of Ownership (“TCO”) – which includes what that automation will cost to build and maintain going forward – and TCO goes well beyond the price tag of your automation software. In all but the simplest cases, the biggest cost isn't the tool - it's the people. The cost of the software is a negligible percentage of the TCO for more sophisticated automations.

You’ll need the following:

• Legal skills - drafting and practice knowledge are essential to produce a valuable, quality result
• Technical skills - capture the logic and build the automation (even no-code solutions need telling what to do)
• Testing skills - to ensure that it works (the builder shouldn't be the tester - marking your own homework never ends well)
• Ongoing support of all the above to maintain and update it as legislation, policy, or the underlying templates change – as mentioned above, automations that fall into disrepair quickly get left behind by the users

It is good to note that these are the skills needed, rather than necessarily the individuals, some or all of the tasks may be done by the same person. Although attracting and retaining people with both legal experience and technical skills can be a challenge.

All while the lawyers continue manually drafting in parallel. That’s why time to value is so critical - until your automation is live, or while it is waiting to be updated, it’s just an additional cost with no return, killing your expected ROI.

Simple Isn’t Always Smart

This is why people often advise starting small: don’t automate too deeply, just get a minimum viable product (“MVP”) out there. It sounds smart, but there’s a catch.

If your MVP only saves 20 minutes in a five-hour drafting process, it probably won’t be adopted. Why would lawyers change their existing habits and processes for a marginal gain? They won’t - and your automation may quietly join the ranks of other unused tech.

Where Not to Start

Whilst it’s not easy to say which documents you should automate (without knowing more), there are some definite ones to avoid (unless you have a very specific business reason), namely documents that:

• Are rarely used and low-effort to draft - automating an obscure 3-page document that’s drafted once a year isn’t going to move the needle
• Vary wildly from matter to matter with little consistency – if you haven’t coalesced around a standard template it will be like herding cats
• Are heavily customised for a particular client – will you keep that client (or in the example of a lease, will the client keep that asset) long enough to reach the benefit?
• High-use documents with low potential time saving, that are prepared by low-cost staff that are easy to recruit and train

Automation is an investment - time, people, and resources - so aim for impact.

It All Comes Full Circle

So, which documents should you automate? Sorry, there’s no universal list I can give you. It depends on both your why - the business problem you're solving - and your how - the strategy and resources you’ll use to build it.

An automated SPA that saves 12 hours drafting per transaction vs. one that only saves 30 minutes? Huge difference. But if you're building it yourself and it takes significant resources and time to get there (maybe even years)… is it worth it? Will you ever get there?

There Is Another Way

What if you could dramatically cut your TCO and still benefit from deep, complex automations?

That’s where Clarilis comes in. Whether it’s one of our ready-to-go automation products, or a bespoke automation of your firm's own precedents, built for you by our experienced knowledge lawyers, we deliver high-ROI automations without the high TCO. You get all the benefits - without the burden.

Even then, it still comes back to the same question: What business problem are you trying to solve?

Because if your automation doesn’t solve that problem, even the cheapest solution is a waste of money. And simply ticking the “we have document automation” box, is not progress or value, it is just decoration.

Want to jump ahead and find out how Clarilis helps firms of all sizes, from off-the-shelf solutions to fully bespoke automations - learn more here.