Leading Canadian law firm announces equity investment in TheFormTool, LLC, a global software firm

HALIFAX and SEATTLE [April 12, 2016] – Stewart McKelvey has entered into a strategic partnership with TheFormTool, LLC, a global software company that provides TheFormTool PRO and Doxserá, award-winning document assembly and automation tools that can increase the speed of standard legal document generation by close to 70 per cent.

“It’s a time of great change in the legal industry,” said Lydia Bugden, CEO & Managing Partner, Stewart McKelvey. “Clients have asked for increased efficiencies, transparency and value and we are meeting those needs through our Practice Innovation Initiative. TheFormTool, LLC’s automated document assembly is a critical part of our strategy.”

As part of the Initiative, Stewart McKelvey has, for the first time:

  • Invested in a technology company, TheFormTool, LLC, giving the Firm input on product evolution;
  • Provided access to TheFormTool, Doxserá, Snapnumbers and other practice innovation tools to all of the Firm’s 200 lawyers and 300 staff;
  • Announced a full-time, Practice Innovation Partner, Paul Saunders, mandated to bring a start-up approach to the practice of law and to use Lean Six Sigma, Agile and Project Management approaches to innovation; and
  • Hired document assembly and project management staff dedicated to partnering with our lawyers and staff to help the Firm evolve its legal process and practices.

“Doxserá strikes a balance between ease of use and power, and given our longstanding vendor/customer relationship with TheFormTool, LLC, we felt the time was right to enter into this mutually beneficial relationship,” said Paul Saunders, Practice Innovation Partner.

“Automating our document assembly processes Firm wide will enable Stewart McKelvey to increase efficiencies and reduce costs for clients while freeing up lawyers to provide strategic value with time that may otherwise have been spent on repetitive tasks. The more we can streamline our practices, the better we’ll be able to provide quick, accurate, creative and timely counsel to our clients.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Stewart McKelvey as we continue to transform productivity in law, other professions and businesses in North America and around the world,” commented Bob Christensen, CEO of TheFormTool, LLC. “We’re delighted to welcome Stewart McKelvey as a most significant addition to our international group of investors.”

About Stewart McKelvey

Since becoming the first regional law firm more than 25 years ago, Stewart McKelvey has grown to become one of the 20 largest law firms in Canada with more than 200 lawyers and 300 staff across six offices in the four Atlantic Canadian provinces.

As a firm, we are driven by a single objective – to achieve the best results for our clients. Our commitment to Service First defines our standard of excellence and is guided by our promise to understand our clients’ business and objectives, provide value through creative and timely service and maintain effective communication.

Contacts:
Stewart McKelvey
Lydia Bugden
902.420.3372
lbugden@stewartmckelvey.com

About TheFormTool, LLC

Founded in 2011, TheFormTool, LLC is a leading software innovator offering legal and business professionals, whose documents are a literal representation of their expertise and quality of service, simple-to-use software for efficiently creating one or more intelligent documents with ease and accuracy. The company offers TheFormTool PRO™ for document assembly; for more intense needs its multi-document automation software, Doxserá®; Snapnumbers for autonumbering within documents; and, will later this year introduce Doxserá DB, its database-enabled product.  Its software is in use in firms large and small in more than 200 industries and 40 countries. www.theformtool.com

Newspaper graphic

Click to download