Gabrielle Orum Hernandez, Legaltech News
The tools use MS Word as host for
contract drafting, streamlining the workflow while allowing for complex review.
Paper Software, a company
specializing in contract drafting technology, this week launched its Microsoft
Word plug-in, Contract Tools, with search and proofreading functions built
directly into the Word environment.
While add-ins to the Microsoft
Office may seem like a simplistic tool given the complexity and importance of
most contracts, Ben Whetsell, co-founder of Paper Software, says that its
minimalism is part of its key strength.
“To find proofreading
mistakes, you don’t need to start some other tool, load your document into it,
wait for the tool to generate a report, review the report, fix the problems
described in the report, and then re-run the report again and again. Instead,
you just click the mistake in the add-in to go to it, fix it, save it, and move
on,” he said.
Because most attorneys still
do the bulk of their contract work in Microsoft Word rather than stand-alone
contract analysis platforms, a simple Word add-in can help attorneys keep a
streamlined workflow while still getting a complex analysis.
“Microsoft Word on Windows is
the document creation tool that almost all law firms deploy, and consequently
it’s the tool that many, many lawyers use to create and analyze contracts,”
Whetsell said in a statement.
Whetsell says that despite its
add-in status, Paper Software doesn’t lose any functionality or depth of
analysis by building Contract Tools straight into the Word platform.
“There’s very little than a
standalone app can do that an Office add-in can’t do,” Whetsell said.
“Word and Office as platforms afford what’s needed to analyze text, but it’s
the underlying technologies of Contract Tools that truly enable Contract Tools’
various features,” he added.
Chief among the tool’s
features are overviews of key information within contracts, proofreading tools
for typical contract drafting issues, and search provisions for relevant deal
terms.
According to Whetsell,
Contract Tools takes aim at inefficiencies created by the co-dependent
components inherent to contracts. “The main challenge of contracts that holds
back efficiency is interconnectedness and the complexity that this
interconnectedness creates,” he said.
Although Whetsell notes that
Contract Tools may be most useful for corporate law firms and major law firms
that deal with lots of contract work, he says that they have great applications
for litigation and finance attorneys, as well as those with contract needs
outside the legal profession.
“Contract Tools will also be
useful to litigators when analyzing contracts (and corporate charters, and
opinion letters) in the context of a dispute (and when negotiating settlement
agreements),” Whetsell said.
The product is available for a
subscription fee of $10/monthly or $100 annually, with volume discounts
available for large quantity buys.
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