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Lugging massive binders to litigation or filing binders on shelves for recordkeeping may become a relic of the past, if NetDocuments' new SetBuilder add-on has its way.

SetBuilder allows users to link and organize various Microsoft Word documents and Excel spreadsheets needed for a matter and house those documents in a single PDF for distribution and storage.

To be sure, SetBuilder isn't the first document management tool adapted to lawyers' and legal staff's workflows, but NetDocuments said the large market signifies the traditional approach to organizing documents is time-consuming and needs to be streamlined.

“I think the important thing to stress is that we are taking an existing process, but it was done in an error prone and inefficient matter, and we are having them do it a new and more secure way,” said NetDocuments senior product manager Mark Salamon.

What it is: SetBuilder is an add-on feature of cloud-based document management platform NetDocuments Software Inc. For an additional fee, NetDocuments customers can use SetBuilder to organize documents within its platform.

SetBuilder's technology is based on Chapman and Cutler's Closing Room program. Previously, Closing Room only offered features to coordinate closings, but after Closing Room was acquired by NetDocuments in 2018, NetDocuments expanded the software's functionality.

Now, SetBuilder offers its document organizing features to a wider array of legal functions including litigation, transactions and knowledge management.

How it works: Users can create a customizable headline to organize the documents needed for any scenario. Later, the user can add any Word document or Excel spreadsheet files under the headline. If a necessary document hasn't been created, a placeholder can be used and later updated when the document is created. Users can also arrange the documents in any order and identify connections between documents. Lastly, they can export the documents as a single PDF or “clone” it and use it for another matter.

For documents needed for transactions, referencing case law for briefs, trial binders, witness deposition binders and other litigation tasks, SetBuilder offers a streamlined and digitized process, Salamon said. A law firm's knowledge management can also be improved by creating a single resource full of links to templates and taxonomies, he added.

The Competition: Again, NetDocuments isn't the first to introduce organizing legal's documents. It joins a growing pool of legal tech companies integrating document management features into its platform.

Indeed, TrialWorks LLC recently hired a new CEO to direct its two legal case management programs Needles and TrialWorks. Likewise, law firm management tech company Aderant also offers case management software among its suite of practice management, e-billing, knowledge management and calendar offerings. 

However, the new capabilities for NetDocuments is seen as an enhancement to its platform that provides improvement to a task faced by all lawyers in any practice.

Dan Hauck, NetDocuments' vice president of product and user experience, said SetBuilder eases the “burden” of bouncing out of multiple Word and Excel files and meets them on a platform they already work through.