Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), a large global law firm, adopted the LexisDraft proofreading tool to help lawyers deliver high-quality documents to clients while meeting tight deadlines. In a demonstration, LexisDraft quickly found errors in sample documents. Following positive feedback, BLP rolled out LexisDraft to all lawyers and estimates it can reduce proofreading time by up to 75%. Lawyers appreciate LexisDraft as an extra layer of accuracy and a way to work more flexibly and efficiently.

1. Quality drafting for your clients.
Berwin Leighton Paisner is among the early adopters of Lexis®
Draft, the
Microsoft Word toolbar from LexisNexis which helps deliver the quality
their clients expect, whilst meeting the tight turnaround times they need.
BerwinLeightonPaisnerisa multi-awardwinning,
globallegalfirm withofficesin12international
locationsand its800fee earnersworkonprojects
acrossmorethan100differentcountries.
In the course of a single year the firm, which
covers over 60 different areas of law, produces
hundreds of thousands of documents for clients,
including many FTSE 100 companies.
50percentofBLP’sbusinessiswithclientswho
havebeen withthe firm foratleastfouryears,and
astrongcommitmenttoqualityhasbeencritical
toretainingthem.Theproofreadingrequiredto
achievesuchhighstandardshastraditionallybeen
anonerous,time-consumingtask.
Consequently, the firm has been among the
early adopters of LexisDraft, the Microsoft
Word toolbar from LexisNexis which helps them
deliver the quality their clients expect, whilst
meeting the tight turnaround times they need.
A Compelling Case:
“There was a compelling case for the system to
be introduced at BLP,” says Barry Gross, Partner
in BLP Real Estate Department.
LexisDraftproveditsvaluetoBLPinjustasingleday.
In a live demonstration of the toolbar, lawyers
were given the opportunity to run LexisDraft
on their own documents. The tool quickly and
consistently highlighted areas for attention,
which could then be easily addressed.
This was consistent with research from
LexisNexis which found more than 30 per cent of
lawyers admit to “skipping” proofreading tasks to
save time, while 90 per cent of documents which
have been proofread still contain some errors.
“Thedemonstrationwasarealeyeopener-our
clientsareoftenveryhotonpresentationandin
somecasesatypographicalerrorcanalterthe
meaning.Commonmistakesareoftenmissedby
thehumaneyesoLexisDrafthelpsmanageriskby
removingalevelofdoubt.It’sanextrasafetynet.”
Quality and Innovation:
As a market leader, BLP constantly seeks to
introduce innovations that will improve
client satisfaction.
DavidWood,HeadofBusinessProjectsforthe
firm,wasquicklyconvincedthatLexisDraftwas
agoodfit.
“We are a progressive firm,” he explains. “We’ve
always been at the forefront of implementing
advances in technology and it was obvious that
LexisDraft would be an excellent addition to our
stable by reducing the risk of drafting mistakes
and improving consistency.”
“Providing a quality service to our clients is
critical to our business and at the heart of this
are quality legal documents.”
Following the demonstration there was an
overwhelmingly positive response from other
fee earners at BLP, who wanted to know when
LexisDraft would be widely available.
What is LexisDraft?
LexisDraft checks
for problems with
definitions, references,
numbering, citations;
and provides access
to LexisNexis content
such as precedents
and clauses*.
“Common mistakes are often missed by the human eye, so LexisDraft
helps manage risk by removing a level of doubt. It’s an extra safety net.”
Barry Gross, Partner, BLP Real Estate Department
*with LexisPSL subscription

2. Quality drafting for your clients.
The LexisDraft toolbar sits above your work until
required and there’s no need to switch between
different reference libraries or programmes
to check drafts. By working across all open
documents an entire deal can be proofread at
once, making for simplicity of use.
Mr Wood adds: “LexisDraft gives fee earners
more independence to work for themselves. It’s
a system that has empowered our lawyers to
really get on top of drafting by putting them in
complete control of the process.
“Thisallowsformoreflexibleworkinganditcanbe
usedatanytimeduringthelifecycleofadocument.”
LexisDraft features leading proofreading
software and the most up-to-date law can
be accessed from authoritative LexisNexis
resources. There’s no substitute for a good
lawyer but LexisDraft provides a systematic
approach to accuracy.
Time Saved for Fee Earners
“When you consider the cost per hour of lawyers’
time and the vast number of legal documents
produced annually there are also significant time
savings across the firm,” says Mr Gross, who has a
special interest in IT.
“We are working in a technological age when
everything is expected to be done quickly.
Expectations about turnaround time have
become much greater.
“It is obviously a huge benefit to have a system
that achieves that while adding, rather than
sacrificing, quality.”
David Wood was also struck by the potential time
savings offered by LexisDraft, which he estimates
could reduce the hours spent proofreading some
legal documents by up to 75 per cent.
Heexplains:“Alongandcomplexlegaldocument
cannormallytakemanyhourstoproofread.Using
LexisDrafttherearesignificanttimesavings.On
somedocumentswhichpreviouslytookanhour
toproofreadIestimatethatthetaskisnowbeing
done,moreefficiently,inaquarterofthetime.”
He adds, “LexisDraft frees fee earners to do
other work and generate business, so there are
clear financial benefits.”
Essential Tool, Easy to Install
At BLP, LexisDraft was rolled out quickly in a
straightforward install for all fee earners and
secretaries in London. In a survey of users at
BLP 96 per cent rated the system “easy to use”.
It is currently being extended to international
offices where English law legal documents are
regularly prepared.
Mr Gross says: “LexisDraft is now on everyone’s
desktop. It is easy to use and has become a way
of life at BLP. LexisDraft is like having a best friend
check your work.”
Mr Wood adds: “Lexis Draft reduces risk by
eliminating human error. In a relatively short
time it has become an essential part of our tool
kit at BLP.”
“LexisDraft is now on
everyone’s desktop. It
is easy to use and has
become a way of life
at BLP. LexisDraft is like
having a best friend
check your work.”
Barry Gross
Partner, BLP Real Estate Department
Call 0845 370 1234
email lexisdraft@lexisnexis.co.uk
or visit www.draftdifferent.co.uk
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current as of April 2015 and is subject to change without notice.