In this edition, we present Dorna Moini, CEO of Documate, a digital tool that allows lawyers to venture into the world of automating legal documents, without the need for programming knowledge.

In the #outofthebox section we want to give a space to all those lawyers who dare to think outside of what is expected, to get out of the traditional model of the legal profession, and who live these times of volatility and uncertainty with hope and creativity, building the new legal profession that the world is needing.

"Documate helps attorneys reach people who would never have been able to afford regular fee rates”

What is Documate?

Documate is an easy-to-use legal document automation platform that enables you to create robust document automation workflows and sell your legal products through a customer-facing portal.

How does it work?

Documate's platform is intuitive and easy to use, requiring no coding knowledge. First, the user builds a quiz and chooses a response format (with options like text, numbers, multiple choice, lists, and calendar dates). This quiz can also display prompts, videos, and images and guide the user to the right path. Then, the questionnaire is connected to the documents that want to be generated at the end of the process (a model in Word or pdf, in general), and thus, the end user completes the form data, and the platform places the data taken from it inside of the chosen document template, and a new document is automatically generated.

In this way, the end user self-generates the legal document from a predefined matrix in a questionnaire, freeing the lawyer from having to do it.

The process itself is simple, but we also offer many advanced features that allow our users to increase the complexity based on their comfort level. Our users can even tag the platform or embed your quizzes on their websites to create publicly accessible legal products. We have seen our users create amazing things.

For example, we have Brevity as a client, the local corporate management automation platform (www.brevity.pro), has set up a website using Documate with the contracts most used by entrepreneurs so that they can generate their own contracts (see www.lawgital.com).

How and when did you start thinking about automation? What were you doing at the time?

I started Documate when I was practicing law at the Sidley Austin firm. I wanted to create some tech tools for my pro bono clients, so I launched an automated platform for victims of domestic violence. Then we started hearing from other lawyers who wanted to build similar tools, but in other areas of the law and different jurisdictions. That's why we started Documate, to enable anyone to build end-to-end automation with one easy tool and without having to hire a software engineer to help you.

Do you think tools like Documate would make legal services more or less accessible to legal services?

Documate helps attorneys reach people who would never have been able to pay regular hourly rates. Documate users have created very popular do-it-yourself legal tools, and they are changing the accessibility landscape. These tools allow affordable access to legal services for individuals that are priced outside of the typical law firm.

The benefits of using legal technology also extend to traditional legal practice: attorneys using Documate can reduce individual client costs and increase the number of clients they can serve at any one time. It is a win-win situation for both the legal industry and the general public.

Automation frees lawyers from boring, repetitive or routine work. However, automation tools or other legal technology tools did not achieve massive penetration among lawyers... Why do you think that happens? Are we afraid of being replaced?

Automation is increasing on both the supply and demand sides of the equation. Pricing is much more transparent and consumers are looking for a more efficient and lower cost legal practice. On the lawyer side, lawyers are beginning to recognize that the use of technology and the introduction of alternative fee models, such as flat fees and subscription plans, can actually generate more income for them and allow them to focus their time. Historically, there may have been some fear of technology, but now we are seeing widespread adoption and a race by law firms to be the most technologically advanced in the industry.

Lawyers, in general, think that technology is an expensive resource, or requires special knowledge that they do not have... Do you think this is changing? Documate is a tool for anyone?

Absolutely, and that's exactly why we started! In my practice, I found that all automation platforms either required coding skills or were very difficult to use. We built Documate to make that process as easy as using your favorite online tools. The entire tech industry is transforming its approach to put the user experience first, which democratizes technology and the law.