The “Using Document Automation to Improve Efficiency and Reduce Errors” panel at the ABA Tech Show invited audience members to consider life before the invention of the washing machine, when people would invest up to six hours at time hand-cleaning their garments.

What does this have to do with the way attorneys are engaging—or not—with document automation, you might ask?

“Most of the lawyers in America are hand-washing laundry in their offices,” said panelist Erin Gerstenzang.

A solo practitioner operating under the banner of EHG Law Firm, Gerstenzang told the crowd that she became technology proficient largely out of a desperate attempt to avoid hiring a secretary. Most people attempting to learn how to use new technology in the middle of an already busy workday get frustrated and give up, but Gerstenzang recommended waiting until the weekends so the deadlines aren't flying as fast and furious.

Nerino Petro Jr., her co-panelist and president of the Erickson Group, backed her up.

“Start small. Put your signature block in autocorrect so you don't have to type that every day,” Petro said.

During the session they taught audiences how to do just that. Automation isn't just about saving time. It's also about avoiding errors. By making small tweaks to the autocorrect function inside Microsoft Word, users can prevent the software from misidentifying common fixtures inside legal documents as spelling or grammatical errors.

Quick Parts, also located in Microsoft Word, can be used to prebuild and store phrases or clauses that frequently find their way into letters or legal documents.

While similar text expansion tools are readily available on the marketplace, they may not be where the smart money is headed. “What's trending? Trending is moving everything to the cloud,” Petro said.

Gerstenzang often uses the cloud in her practice to streamline the production of boilerplate documents that tend to recycle the same template or information. She recommended WebMerge, a document generation solution that takes simple pieces of data such as a client's name or a case number and compiles them into the format required for a given legal matter.

Documents can also be sent directly to clients for their e-signature or to collaborating counsel. While using a variety of legal technology can help legal services become more cost-effective, there is one small detail that lawyers should look for when picking a new tool.

“You want to make sure with any of these tools that you're paying attention to are they holding onto this data?” Gerstenzang said.