“NextChapter Docs '' is a feature of NextChapter Legal that allows law firms to create documents faster with NextChapter's document automation tool. This enables them to create document templates from scratch or edit already created templates for use.
Furthermore, the docs tool possesses an intuitive editor to customize and format the form and add in merge tags that can be used later to autofill data from the case, allowing you to automatically populate a variety of forms and documents, like letters or motions, with information applicable to each case. This way, you and your firm can save time from sourcing old documents and manually entering data, thus significantly reducing errors.
NextChapter Docs is an efficient automation tool that also helps to streamline legal document generation for any practice area. Law firms can mark the practice area for their new petition, form, or letter and customize the template using its online editor. It also enables them to build templates from scratch or upload existing ones for repeated use.
This automation tool boasts many impressive features, and in this article, we'll be going through some features and logic that make NextChapter Doc Creator a top automation tool in the legal industry.
Features and Logic
Many redundancies occur when creating or editing document templates in the legal industry. These could be the plurality of nouns used in the document, the subject's pronouns, a lack of uniformity in collecting client data, or insufficient information when drafting the document. NextChapter Doc has many features and logic that aid in dealing with such repetitions.
Pronoun Logic: Starting with Pronoun Logic, this is a feature of NextChapter Docs that allows the user to automatically auto-populate the pronouns of text in a template after simply assigning pronouns to a custom field to create plural language subtags. Simply select the appropriate pronouns in the gender tag and click save. Then, it automatically auto-populates in the chosen template. Making it an excellent feature for streamlining the document creation process and saving time.
Doc & Template Lists: Sort & Search Function: With Doc & Template Lists: Sort & Search Function, users can now easily locate their templates within the NextChapter domain. It allows them to search all their saved documents with the Search box and filter documents based on their Title, Created At date, or Last Update date.
Plural Language Logic: This element allows law firms to adjust the text in a template based on the plurality of a noun. They now have the option within a tag to indicate whether the subject or subjects of that tag are plural in regard to the specific document.
Option for Blank Lines if Fields are Left Blank: When creating or editing a custom field with any merge tag, it might be necessary to leave a field blank either for inputting information later or for making intake-style sheets for client input. Now, users can leave a blank line by simply checking the "blank line" box under a field. The blank line option works such that If this box is checked and the field is left blank in a case; this tag will be replaced with a blank line to be filled out later, enabling users to edit the blank lines later and worry less about the lack of necessary information when drafting the document.
User Interface Enhancements: NextChapter Docs has updated its interface to be more user-friendly. It recently released a new interface with a new design, more progress-tracking features, navigation options, and increased mobility, among many others.
Ability to reorder Custom Fields in the case: To collect client data, users can now easily create Custom Fields related to the document template. They can also sort these fields and use them to merge data with NextChapter’s other features like Doc Creator, NextMessage, and MyChapter.
Nested Logic Enhancements: Users can now "nest" fields within Custom Fields when creating them. When creating a document template, nested logic allows you to include or exclude information from the document based on whether it is associated with the current Custom Field. An example is adding children as a Nested Field to a parent in a divorce case.
Duplicate Tag: This enables users to create multiple options by duplicating a tag in a Nested Field. For example, if an attorney needs information about his client's children, he can simply click the duplicate button at the top of option 1, which holds the information for the first child. This generates a new option that can be edited to include the next child's information, allowing him to obtain as much information from his client as he desires.
Ability to Export PDF documents to Word: NextChapter's Doc Creator has several editing tools law firms can use to create and edit your documents, and this editing and downloading feature allows users to export uploaded PDFs into Word for the editing of text, signatures, headings, margins, tables, and so on. They can also download documents that have been exported and saved directly in Client Document Storage or by going to Download & Print.
Multiple Entity Updates: Users can now add multiple entities to a tag. If there are multiple plaintiffs, for example, users can add "Plaintiff 1, Plaintiff 2, etc." as subtags in the document template being worked on.
Ability to Insert Tags into Tags: This uses extended nesting logic. It basically means that users can nest tags within tags that are already nested.
Ability to Save Language as Optional: This feature enables users to add language options to a merge tag by checking a box that enables sub-tags.
Conclusion
NextChapter Legal has established itself as a one-stop shop for the automation needs of legal professionals. Law firms can save energy, time, and money by utilizing NextChapter Doc Creator, which promises a significant reduction in work time, an increase in efficiency, lower costs, and little room for error, offering numerous opportunities for the firm's growth and development in the industry. If you work in the legal field and are aiming for progressive growth, NextChapter Doc Creator is the way to go.