For law practices, with privilege removed

A great deal of a practice's value lives in material written for its own lawyers:

• Your precedent library and templates
• Training material and checklists
• Know-how and research memos
• Workflow, staffing and intake records
• Billing narratives stripped of every identifier

Anything privileged is stripped before the copy is made. Client matters can be left out completely, and many practices never put them in. Whether anything is consistent with your duties is a decision for the firm and its counsel. We do not give legal advice about it.

In anything that stays, the names of clients, other parties, lawyers and staff are replaced with placeholders, as are matter numbers and other identifiers. You, and your counsel if you like, review a sample before anything is shared.

No one asks for passwords, and the originals remain where they are. Buyers license nothing but the prepared copy you signed off on, and any practice group or set of templates can be held back.

Ask for the estimate, which never needs a client name or a document. On the brief call, collect the answers counsel will need, such as which systems are in play, what the placeholders do and the review process for the sample. Until you approve, you can stop whenever you like. Whether to proceed stays with the practice from start to finish, and it costs nothing either way.

What a buyer gets is a prepared version of approved internal documents. An example is a precedent with the drafting notes that explain when each clause is used, with every name and identifier replaced. This kind of material captures how seasoned attorneys think, something public text rarely holds. Anything privileged is removed, client matters may stay out altogether, and no one outside the firm ever gets into your document management platform. Your counsel can review the sample first.