A Peek into the World of Legal Word Processing

Several years ago, while attending a train-the-trainer session in New York City, I overheard a discussion where one of my peers talked about her introduction to the legal industry as a word processing specialists. My interest outweighed my modest guilt of eavesdropping, as I was reminded of the changes in desktop technology.

Long before Microsoft came on the scene, Wang, MultiMate and WordPerfect DOS were the leading word processing systems. And, the legal industry, like no other, demanded and continues to demand top-notch word processing skills that, in many cases, surpass the skill-sets of certified users. With twenty-four hour a day document production departments and word processing centers, international law firms generate millions of legal documents every day.

Speak with any experienced word processing specialists and he or she will tell you that legal word processing is more than knowing how to use the basic, intermediate and advance features of a word processing application. Legal word processing is the ability to correlate and apply the appropriate software features to the multiple objects in a complex legal document.

With Microsoft Office leading the way in desktop applications, the legal industry has long embraced Microsoft Word as its primary word processing software. However, 20 years ago WordPerfect DOS dominated the industry. With a few law firms still running dual word processing platforms that feature Microsoft Word and WordPerfect for Windows, attorneys, paralegals and secretaries with recent word processing skills tend to be sole Microsoft Word users.

The complexity of legal word processing leaves little or no room for error. Hence, it is critical for the 21 century law firm professional, both legal and administrative, to have proficient word processing skills. Combined with the realities of a recession that continues to take its toll on the once regarded recession-proof legal industry, now more than ever, associate attorneys, paralegals and legal secretaries must consider the importance and benefits of enhancing their word processing skills. And, the experienced word processing specialist must stay on top of her game as new versions of word processing applications are introduced.

In July, 2008, KAS Training launched its customized Legal Word Processing Course. The first of its kind, this training program brought law firm training to the public by providing individuals with an opportunity to learn the secrets behind legal word processing. Though KAS has temporarily discontinued its training to the public, it is currently in discussion with a prominent New York City university with the goal of bringing legal word processing training back to the public arena.

KAS Training will introduce its Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010 legal word processing book, which will be available on Amazon beginning September/October, 2009.