BlueLine_Logo“The first thing we do,” said the character in Shakespeare’s Henry VI, is “kill all the lawyers.”  Many have misinterpreted this saying an attack on the legal profession. In reality it was an indication that lawyers would stand in the way of political tyranny.  Well, a much less controversial statement might have been: the first thing WE do, is kill all the boring legal work.  BlueLine is a simple tool that improves the quality of legal writing by automating certain tasks that lawyers have no interest in doing.  The idea is to improve the quality of legal writing by allowing lawyers to focus on higher value activities

BlueLine is a desktop-based program that reduces the time and money lawyers spend on legal writing, editing and citation while simultaneously improving the quality of their work product. When users select a document and hit ‘run’, the software converts each legal citation in the document to a hyperlink that will enable users to access free online versions of the case. The program also checks quotes in the document for accuracy and helps users fix any incorrect quotes by identifying close matches. Using BlueLine, lawyers can minimize the time spent on the legal writing process while enhancing the accuracy of their work product.

The program was launched in November of 2015, and has a slowly developing user base.  Attorneys from both small and larger firms are using the BlueLine to improve their writing by and check cites.  The program uses high quality security to ensure that user data is protected and other innovations to respect client data.  Right now during the public beta period the program is completely free, though once we leave beta it will have a flat monthly cost.  We have been developing the application for several months and are excited to finally be launching it.  The program was designed by two recent graduates of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

BlueLine is a software program that improves the accuracy, efficiency and speed of the legal writing, editing and citation process. The desktop-based application works by converting every case cited in the legal document to a hyperlink and directing users to access the cases online for free. In addition to reducing research fees, the program checks every quote in the document for accuracy and helps users correct quotes by identifying close matches. Using BlueLine, lawyers can reduce the time spent cite-checking and proofreading while improving their work product.

So let’s not kill the lawyers. But let’s kill their worst work. As with the quote form Shakespeare the concept has some political implications as well as some practical ones.  Killing the worst work lawyers do will make their lives much more enjoyable—the inverse of the common misinterpretation of the Shakespeare quote.  Politically, or socially, the project of automating boring legal work means that the cost of simple legal work will decrease, making everyone’s lives better.  Lawyers will like this to, as their time will shift toward higher value, more complex work.

By Techwacky

Editor-in-Chef of TechWacky.com