"How do I get this document to look like THAT document?"
Style Sheets--One of the more frustrating and challenging aspects of document assembly (and document production in general) is getting your document to look like an office standard.
Sometimes your are typing something with only a vague idea of what the final product is
going to be . . . a memo, a letter, a fax. Other times, you know exactly what the end product will be, but don't have time to search for the underlying template. You just need to get words to screen for now. It should be a simple matter to convert the text into the ultimate shape, but it's sometimes not. It's the document's 'styles' that are hanging you up. Pathagoras can help you get to the final 'destination.'
'Styles' can mean the particular font the 'normal' text, and different fonts or sizes or emphasis for the various heading levels. It can also mean paragraph numberings, or indents, or page margins. And then there are document headers and footers to consider. Aaaarrrgghhh. There is so much to conform and adjust. Getting raw text to look like your model document, or changing direction in what you want the final document to be, can take a lot of effort and consume a significant amount of time.
But Pathagoras can make those style adjustments a LOT easier. With the release of Pathagoras 2018, you can easily apply a designated ‘style sheet’ to an active
document. It takes only two or three clicks. The document instantly takes on the shape and style characteristics of the referenced template. You can even change your mind, flipping from a 'memo' to a 'fax cover sheet' to a 'formal letter' with ease. Got the body for a major discovery project, but not the headers, footers and introductory text. No problem. Want to apply a line-numbering template. Piece of cake.
A ‘style sheet’ is just a simple Word
document that represents an office ‘model’ for that particular kind of document. Like other Pathagoras tools, it's not something you have to create from whole cloth or add complex coding to. Any document you already have (e.g, your favorite letter, pleading, trust etc.) can be a style sheet.
You can maintain up to 5 ‘style sheets’ for rapid recall. (5 is just an arbitrary number. We can go higher depending upon your feedback. In large firms, sometimes each lawyer has a style preference for each major document type. Oy!)
Read more about style sheets -- how to create them, how assign them to a quick-pick list, and how to use them in your practice -- at this link:
Read more about style issues general) at this link:
Interactivity with other programs: Many program owners still don't know that Pathagoras' plain text underpinnings gives it great flexibility for augmenting and complementing any case management, document management or CRM system.
Nothing special is required to enable this interactivity. It is 'program inherent.' Our plain text model means 'no fields', and no fields means that there is nothing inside a 'Pathagorized' document that would conflict with other programs. You can insert 'plain text' variables (including multiple choice variables) and even Options and Optonal text block into the body of templates used by the other programs. The only 'requirement' is that the 'other' program must generate a Word document as its final product. Once Word is active, Pathagoras can be used to finish the job. Examples:
Wills & Trusts: You many have one of those fancy (and very expensive) trust assembly programs. They offer incredible features that can generate lengthy and very thorough estate planning packages. But there are often variables you need to use that are not provided for in the underlying database. Solution: you can edit the source text to add these variables. You can even add Options and Optional text blocks into the body of the other program's templates. (You can also add clauses later). When the initial drafts are generated in Word, use Pathagoras for the final assembly and cleanup work.
Pleadings: Start the pleading package offered by your case management system. It may be just a simple 'style of the case' or a complete pleadings package. It likely will contain the client's name, opposing party's name, attorneys and the basic information needed for the documents. Because it was started in your CMS system, it is automatically linked to the relevant client. Use Pathagoras to complete variables that were not part of the original database, or to select conditional text, discovery questions, interim and final orders, etc.
Contract, letters and general documents: Maybe you want to start a basic document (a simple letter, a contract, demand letter, cover sheet, etc.) using your document or case management system. That creates the formal link between the client's case file and the new document. Complete
the package using Pathagoras: replace [plain text] and [multiple choice] variables that you made part of the source text. Add additional boilerplate and condition text via DropDown Lists; insert fact pattern
documents, images and Excel spreadsheets as needed. You name it and
Pathagoras can insert it, quickly and elegantly. And use the 'style sheets' discussed above to format your document to its professional best.
New Manual Section: We have a new feature (part of the Manual, but you can
access the pages starting here), where we provide examples using 2 or more
somewhat disparate features of Pathagoras in the same example. The idea is to demonstrate to you the interaction of the various
program components, and to expose you to features of which you may not yet be
aware.
I hope you find this feature helpful. If there are other features you would like to see illustrated (either in a newsletter or in this section of the Manual), let me know.
We are now Pathagoras 2018:
With
this release, and in consideration of the large number of substantive improvements added since last year, we step up the version number of Pathagoras to '2018'.
For a review of the major features introduced or augmented since the release of
2017, click this link.
|