Why do lawyers need transaction software?
In recent years, the market for transaction software has exploded in the real estate business. Lawyers, real estate agents and home buyers all got fed up with the mess of paperwork involved in buying a house and decided there must be a better way. As a result, many great transaction software products have come to market. These products help real estate agents and lawyers in the management of documents and data while purchasing a home. Companies like EZ Coordinator, Co Star Real Estate Manager, and Nekst all bring innovative approaches to the closing of a residential real estate transaction. Unfortunately, these products are focused on real estate closings so they can’t help lawyers with other types of deals.
Why doesn’t transaction software work for lawyers?
Legal transactions have grown in complexity and in volume. On any given day a transactional lawyer could be working on five deals at one time. Each deal could have hundreds of documents involving countless legal entities. Transaction software on the market doesn’t account for this reality. Although there may be features that target residential real estate closings, the software can’t support complex deals such as financings and M&A. This is where a new category of product called Legal Transaction Management software (LTM) comes in.
How does LTM fit the needs of corporate lawyers?
Lawyers should have software designed to fit their specific needs. Unlike transaction software, LTM is specifically built for corporate lawyers. It fits the needs for a broader range of legal transactions including public and private financing, M&A and tax reorganizations.
The first way legal transaction software accomplishes this is by keeping track of everything happening in a deal. The closing checklist, the documents, the versions, the schedules and signatures – the list goes on. LTM centralizes everything in one single online platform. This makes it easy to track documents and signatures, and manage all of the communication about the deal.
The second major feature of LTM is automation. LTM can provide immense value at the critical stages of the transaction closing by automating tasks that normally take many hours for a human to complete. This includes creating signing packages, making last minute changes to documents (like dates), and compiling the fully executed version of each document. After closing, LTM can create professional closing books in just a few clicks and send them out to clients immediately.
In this technological age, every client expects things as fast and efficiently as possible. If you’re interested in learning more about LTM, check out our in-depth case study on how one law firm transformed its management of legal transactions across its six offices.
