Want to know what lawyers do?

What does this post on knowledge management and contracts have to do with family law? Everything, if you really want to know what lawyers do.

Ed Poll's comment contains the real point to my posting this link:

We still remain, however, with the mentality that it’s too easy to use an exemplar without “thinking” whether this applies “on all fours” to our current matter. Isn’t that why we went to law school: To learn how to think? It’s just too easy for the laziest amongst us to say that because it’s in print, it must be right for this matter as well.

It is not enough to just grab a form but know to what do with the form. If this is true for lawyers, think what it means if you want to do your own case.

Lawyers use their training and experience to enhance what is found in the forms. Anyone can copy a pleading and file it, but to file the correct one at the correct time for the correct purpose as part of an overall strategy is something different. Lawyers do that something different.

I have written on my Civil and Business Law Blog about how I have been working on returning my office to a more automated basis. That work also applies to the family law area. I will be writing more specifically on this and how it will be changing my fee structure.