General Information

NTAP Welcomes Rachel Medina

Rachel Medina has joined NTAP as our new 2009 Training Coordinator. Many of you know Rachel from her work as the A2J Coordinator at Chicago Kent.  Rachel also graduated f

Remote Intake Interview for Use by Clients

Remote Intake Interview for Use by Clients

The Primer on Document Assembly

As poverty law advocates, we all do routine paperwork -- court documents, letters, and briefs -- which have some information added into a mostly generic form.

Sample Document Automation Programs for Legal Services

Document Automation Software for Legal Services

You may have a general sense of document assembly, but what do you do next? Well, you may consider your options on the software you'd use to automate documents in your office. To do that, you'd need to assess how you plan to use document assembly in your program. For example, if you plan on using automated document software for use by pro se or assisted pro se clients, you may choose something different than if your advocates are the end user. Additionally, if you have a partnership with your courts, you might need to make this decision collectively.

Doing Documents Online & a History and Overview of LawHelp Interactive (formerly NPADO)

By: Marc Lauritsen, Capstone Practice Systems, 2005

Getting HotDocs Pro from LexisNexis for Free

HotDocs for Free?

Thanks to a donation from LexisNexis, two copies of HotDocs Pro (retail value $500-$600 each) are being made available to every state for the purpose of template creation and maintenance. These can be used to create document assembly applications for traditional desktop use, or for online delivery.

Meeting the Needs of Self-Represented Litigants: A2J Author

by: Jay C. Carle and Ronald Staudt, Center for Access to Justice and Technology, Chicago-Kent College of Law, December 2005

 

Pros and Cons of HotDocs -- Opinion by a Developer

by Sheila Fisher, Pennsylvania, 2005

 

In this day of dazzling graphics and special effects, clients, like all of us, expect something snazzy from a computerized program. Admittedly, HotDocs document assembly software used straight out-of-the-box will not inspire graphic innovations awards. It is a text-only program, but can incorporate hyperlinks to graphics-intensive web pages. While HotDocs it works very effectively for templates designed for use by legal services staff, it does not appear to have the usability components needed by pro se users.

However, HotDocs document assembly has several major advantages:
1. Web-Based: it can be web-based and can be integrated within statewide websites.
2. Free (with your labor) . Two copies of HotDocs licenses have been provided by LexisNexis. (For a list of who has licenses for your use in your state, see www.lstech.org.)
3. Support. Currently, there are trainings, resources, email lists, and workgroups set up to help legal aid persons interested in becoming “automators” (aka developers).
4. Robust Back-end. It is a robust back-end, which means it can support the development of simple and complicated forms, easily.
5. Snazzy Graphics Can Be Added via A2J. Automators of pro se templates are lucky to have an optional add-on interface to work with - the "A2J" software developed by the Justice Web Collaboratory of Chicago-Kent College of Law. This software collects data from pro se users and feeds it to the underlying HotDocs software to produce the legal forms. A2J utilizes caricatures of individuals on the screen, wending their way to a courthouse that appears to get closer as the interview proceeds. Questions appear in cartoon bubbles above the caricatures' heads, and audio tracks can let the user hear the questions in English or another language. Engaging but not childish, A2J breathes some life into otherwise dry text.

Deciding on HotDocs: Web-based National Server or Your Own Local Copy

By: Alan Soudakoff, Capstone Practice Systems, December 2005

Keys to a Successful Document Assembly Project

Marc Lauritsen and Alan Soudakoff wrote a great article, Keys to a Successful Document Assembly Project (PDF). It is not geared for only a legal aid audience, but is worth a read. You may also want to check out other articles published by Capstone Practice Systems, which focuses on document assembly in the practice of law.