56 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
MARCH 2016
IN-HOUSE ADVISOR
Modern document automation goes
beyond auto-fill. Coupled with artificial
intelligence, this unstoppable force
is poised to drive down legal costs
and change the way lawyers practise
BY SANDRA RUBIN ILLUSTRATION BY DAVID SENIOR
CONTRACTS
AUTOMATING
STIKEMAN ELLIOTT LLP knew as soon as the provinces announced harmonized securities regis-
tration rules that it was the moment to pounce.
e firm had been flirting with automation soware but just for its precedent library. Here,
finally, was the business case to put it into action real-time.
"e practice group was fairly small, and we had a lot of clients in that space. We needed to help
them navigate through all the changes and re-register them in the new category," says Andrea Al-
liston, who oversees knowledge management in Toronto. "We had exactly the same issue across
multiple offices. So to deal with the volume and make sure we were being consistent with our ad-
vice, we decided to use document assembly."
Guess what? Six years later, Stikeman is still using automation for ongoing securities registration
advice. It also uses it in areas that include real estate and derivatives.
Welcome to the new brave new world of corporate lawyering.
Computer systems today can generate everything from client reporting letters and multi-party
cross-border loan agreements to complex term sheets and contracts — doing in seconds what it
would have taken lawyers and paralegals days or weeks to complete. And this is just the dawn.
Some law firms have been quick to embrace it.
Go to Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's website and you'll find a 47-page venture-financing
term sheet generator. You fill in variables like the offering size, valuation, series of preferred stock,
whether you want to issue warrants, number of shares, preferred stock rights, and redemption and
anti-dilutive measures.
