Drafting from precedent
The agent searches only the folders the firm has approved and assembles a first draft from clauses marked with their source matter; the associate edits, the partner signs, and the draft goes back to the bank.
Your own precedent bank, with the source of every clause marked.
Who it is for
A firm whose best drafting sits in old matters that nobody can search at the moment they need it. The clause that would have saved four hours exists. It is the finding of it, and the knowing where it came from, that does not.
An approved folder list comes first. Without an archive the workflow is not built; without a permitted folder list it cannot search.
The trigger
A request for a first draft of an agreement, a submission or an opinion.
The request must be bound to the matter it is for. A request with no matter link does not enter the workflow.
The stages
Frame
The document type, its purpose and its matter are written down, with the counterparty position where there is one.
Search
The search is limited to the archive folders allowed by the mandate.
Select
Clauses are selected from the firm’s own bank and nowhere else. A gap where the bank has nothing is marked.
Assemble
The draft is assembled with the source matter of every clause marked on it.
Associate edits
The matter lawyer edits the draft, and the changes and provenance travel with the clause.
Partner signs
A partner signs the document before it leaves the firm.
Return to the bank
Anything to be returned to the bank passes a separate approval by a person first.
What the agent may read, keep and do
| May read | The permitted archive folders, the matter file, the firm’s templates and legislation sources. |
|---|---|
| May keep | The clause selections and their sources, for the retention period agreed with you. No permanent copy of another matter’s text is kept. |
| May do | Select, assemble, mark provenance, and flag a gap where the bank has nothing. It may not invent a clause and present it as precedent, and it may not write to the bank, send to a client, hide a clause’s source or read a folder outside the permitted list. |
The permitted folder list is separately reviewed for professional secrecy and signed by a partner, because the search can bring text from another client’s matter into a new matter.
Where a person signs
Twice. Stage 06 for the document, by the partner. Stage 07 for anything entering the bank, as a separate approval. Nothing enters the bank unsigned, because a bad clause in the bank is a bad clause in fifty matters.
The partner sees the draft, the source matter for each clause and every marked gap. A clause with no visible source does not reach signature. Review depth follows the document’s impact; material entering the bank receives the deepest review because it can affect more than one matter.
What the record contains
Provenance is part of the record rather than a comment in the margin.
These are the fields, not a real matter. No client work appears on this site.
| Field | What goes in it |
|---|---|
| Document | The document type, its matter, the requester and the purpose it was framed for |
| Clauses | Every clause, with the matter it came from |
| Gaps | Every gap the bank could not fill, and what was done about it |
| Drafter | The lawyer who edited the assembled draft |
| Signer | The partner who signed, the time and the version signed |
| Bank | Any entry created in the bank, and who approved it |
| Folders | The permitted folder list and the folders actually searched |
| Versions | Draft versions and the lawyer’s edits alongside their source marks |
Entries are written as the run happens and are append-only. A correction is a new entry naming the one it corrects. Section 5 of the operating standard says what that means in practice.
The measure a pilot uses
One measure, chosen by you. The one I would usually propose is the share of first drafts assembled entirely from marked sources, with no unsourced clause reaching the associate. Time from request to first draft is recorded for information, not as a second acceptance measure. The baseline is taken from recent drafts already produced by hand.
The critical error is a clause in the draft whose source is not marked. Tolerance in that class is zero.
The systems it usually sits on
The document system (including a local file system where the archive lives in folders), the precedent bank wherever it lives, and Word. In a larger firm the bank usually sits inside iManage, NetDocuments or SharePoint rather than in a separate tool. In Türkiye the output goes to the firm's own UDF flow and, where required, through e-imza and KEP. LEXSAS resells none of these and claims no certified connector to any of them.
The first week
- Day one
- The scope call: document types, where the bank lives, who drafts, who signs, the measure.
- Days two and three
- We take a set of recent first drafts and mark where each clause actually came from. The real coverage of the bank becomes visible, and so do its gaps. We prepare a one-page permitted folder list, review it for professional secrecy and obtain the partner’s signature.
- Day four
- The mandate, the provenance format and the rule for what may enter the bank are written down, and you correct them.
- Day five
- A gold set is built from past drafts, the record format is agreed, the baseline is taken and the pilot dates are fixed.
The engagement brief determines the sequence for each assignment. This is the usual order of work, not a timetable commitment.
Exit terms
If the work ends, the firm keeps the following, in an exportable format:
- The permitted folder list and partner signature
- The clause provenance records and source marking rules
- The bank feedback rules and approval step
- The mandate and its register
- The gold set and every run record
The clause provenance and the bank structure are the part with long-term value, and both are the firm’s own.
Three questions
No. It flags the gap and stops. A clause that is not in the bank is a drafting decision, and a lawyer makes it.
Every clause in the assembled draft carries its source matter. The provenance is part of the record rather than a comment in the margin.
Only what a person approves. A bad clause in the bank is a bad clause in fifty matters, so nothing enters it unsigned.
The controls behind this page are in the LEXSAS operating standard, sections 3 to 5. The other three firm workflows: matter intake and engagement scoping, research and citation verification and matter record and client reporting. The terms are defined in the glossary. All eight workflows are on the workflows page. Get in touch