Technology is meant to make our life easier. But it doesn't always work
like that, as the ever-increasing tide of viruses and spam in our in-boxes
makes plain. Sometimes it works, though. Constructing a contract for a
property deal is slow and, for the lawyer, marginally profitable and time-consuming.
Nabarro Nathanson thinks it has hit upon a solution to this: semi-automate
the process using a computer system developed by Business Integrity called
DealBuilder. The idea is simple: encode the company's standard forms (called precedents),
from which most leases are built, into a software system that can generate
a lease from a series of answers to questions. That sort of automation
frees up lawyers for the more important, and more profitable, business
of dealing with the non-standard cases. The idea isn't applicable just to property leases and licences, of course.
It can be applied to any legal contract that is built to a standard form,
like non-disclosure agreements, procurement arrangements and banking deals.
Nabarro's clients, which include Land Securities, are enthusiastic about
the system. What attracted them to the idea? Speed is the advantage "Speed," says Clive Ashcroft of Land Securities. "Primarily, speed is
the main advantage in using DealBuilder. It allows for precedents to be
standardised more quickly and effectively. This is a key tool in the growing
commoditisation of legal services". He also cites cost savings and the
ability to access Nabarro's knowledge easily as other reasons for adopting
the product, which is particularly useful for LandSec's flexible leasing
package, LandFlex. These factors have led other property companies to adopt the system.
The cost and speed benefits aren't the only selling point. The system
has recently become compliant with PISCES, the IT standard for passing
information about buildings between different systems. This was a factor
behind British Land adopting DealBuilder. Stephen Spooner, property director of British Land 's Business Group,
said: "Property transactions have traditionally generated large numbers
of documents, which consume time and scarce resources to complete. The
PISCES-compliant documents that can be easily generated by DealBuilder
will help us to raise our efficiency and competitiveness." The lawyers dismiss the idea that this is going to put them out of work,
arguing that it takes the repetitive, low-value work away from them, freeing
them to do more interesting work with higher margins. With the pressure
there from occupiers and developers alike to do deals faster and cheaper,
it's no wonder that they see it as a way of making low-margin work pay,
while still keeping clients happy.
Write a new hit tune from the old standards
Contract software is saving lawyers and clients time and money. Adam Tinworth takes a closer look. 
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