Looking for a good document template system

November 16, 2006 7:50 PM

Legal forms: I'm looking for a free or low-cost application that will permit data entry in a user-friendly environment and integrate that data with an indeterminate number of predefined MS Word forms (and output .doc or .rtf documents).

Here's the idea: Many legal transactions involve predefined templates that are later customized for the needs of the specific transaction. It's tedious and time-consuming to fill in the forms manually, and manual form-filling detracts from the primary mission of customizing those forms to the unique needs of the transaction. An automated system that would allow one piece of information to be entered once and dropped into the templates automagically would be preferable.

I'm looking for software that will allow creation of "jobs" (my term) encompassing one or more specific form templates created by users and populated with variables into which specific pieces of data are inserted, with different "jobs" available for each transaction type. Using mail merge has been suggested, but this gives me the shivers, as it is both inflexible and does not permit long-term storage of the data for reuse in related transactions. I could build a custom Access+.NET solution with relative ease, but the time cost of building the application, deploying and testing, and dealing with bugs and enhancement requests would be prohibitive. And deploying a custom, proprietary solution would not be the ideal solution anyway.

Has anyone run into a really top-notch form system for use with MS Word? Bonus points if it has a Mac:Office module as well, but that's not mandatory. No bonus points awarded for also being a document management system, as I already have one. Of course, the solution doesn't need to be limited to legal forms (and could include other document formats), but it should be able to be repurposed with little hacking. Again, cost is a factor (and a free demo would be very, very handy), and the template-creation process should be as point-and-click as possible. Thanks, as they say, in advance!

posted by socratic to computers & internet (3 comments total)

Have you considered InfoPath?
posted by owhydididoit at 9:40 PM on November 16, 2006

You want something that is flexible and powerful. No doubt you also want to ensure that it is stable and reliable, and will not become obsolete with the next upgrade to your word processor.

Your difficulty is that these goals are inconsistent with the request for something free or low-cost. You have to pay for quality and reliability. In a law office environment, that is considered an investment in productivity.

HotDocs is regarded as the gold standard for legal form creation. Considering return on investment in a hard-headed businesslike way, the $300 (standard) or $650 (professional) cost is a bargain.
posted by megatherium at 5:20 AM on November 17, 2006

$650 certainly counts as low-cost. Trying to avoid commas here... :) Also, however, trying to avoid Lexis-Nexis, but that may be impossible.

On the other hand, "free" is not entirely unrealistic, if someone had decided to tackle the form-creation issue in an open source project.
posted by socratic at 6:06 AM on November 17, 2006