Not every document is worth automating. This checklist helps you spot the ones where automation pays off - and prepare their logic before you build the template.
Step by step
- Collect document types that share expert knowledge. Start with types in which approved clauses, alternatives, conditions or decision logic can be reused across matters. Frequency is useful, but it is not decisive. A document type is the generic kind (for example an employment contract), not one specific file.
- Compare three real examples side by side. Patterns become visible when you lay three documents of the same type next to each other. Mark which text elements repeat and which differ.
- Check where automation creates leverage. The more approved logic, clause variants and legal judgment a document type can reuse, the more you gain. Even lower-volume documents can justify automation when their risk or complexity is high.
- Work out the legal logic. Next to each clause, note the condition under which it applies. Combine conditions into groups, define a default (“unless answer X is given”), and decide the question type for each (text, select, multiple or serial). Then mark the clauses in your Word document.
Good to know
- Watch for near-duplicates. The same content is often worded slightly differently across documents. Decide on one wording - or offer several inside the template.
- Switch a document’s character with one answer. For example, let the user choose between employer-friendly and employee-friendly clauses.
- Prioritize by leverage. Start where reusable knowledge, complexity, risk or team reach creates the greatest value, then refine over time.