Avoid Overwriting Documents
There are many problems with using an existing word processing document and opening it to use as a “template”. For one, if you are syncing with online file storage and you forget to rename the document with “save as” you will overwrite the old file. Further, you may fail to remove or edit confidential information from the previous file. For another, if you are working on a complex document that requires a lot of formatting, such as a contract or a brief, you might encounter errors or glitches that can ruin your work. For example, you might lose your page numbers, headers, footers, or styles. Or you might have to deal with unwanted changes, such as automatic updates of dates, fields, or cross-references. So, what should you do? Let’s look at some options.
What Are Templates?
There are many ways to leverage templates in the tools you are already using. You can create templates for emails and documents. Word processors like MS Word and Word Perfect allow you to create and save templates to create new “clean” documents. You can keep it as simple as creating a .dot file in MS Word.
Templates to the Rescue
Recently a Federal Judge was put in the position to have to explain that an opinion she wrote was not written by the staff of the special master on the case as the metadata indicated.
Do you want to explain that the metadata is not as it appears? A Federal Judge may be able to explain why the metadata in an opinion that she penned was not indicative of ghostwriting, but it is better to just remove it and leave no questions. Also, another valuable lesson here – create and use templates instead of using old documents as the source for new ones. It can be as simple as creating a template file or create a template with fillable fields. Using document templates and removing metadata will help make sure the firm is using best practices and mitigating risks.
Using Old Documents as a “Template”
If your firm hasn’t been creating templates, or if you have templates but none that will suffice for a particular document and you open an existing document to edit it there are some first steps to take to make sure you don’t overwrite the original document. If you are saving your documents to a local drive or server start with a “File – Save As” so you don’t overwrite the existing file. If you are syncing your documents to OneDrive or SharePoint use “File – Save as Copy”. Barron Henley suggests in the Office for Lawyers Facebook Group:
If you’re saving Word files in OneDrive or SharePoint, you probably DON’T want “AutoSave files stored in the Cloud by default in Word” turned on because it’s too easy to accidentally over-write files you’re using as templates. For example, assume you need to draft a new settlement agreement and decide to use an old one as a template. You locate and open the old version, make a few changes and THEN click File > Save As and give it a new name/location. At that point, it’s too late because if AutoSave was turned on, it automatically saved your initial changes on top of the original file and wrecked it. It doesn’t wait for you to click File > Save As. To access this setting in Word, click the file menu > options > save. FWIW, this setting appears to be independent from the AutoSave button on the Quick Access Toolbar.”
The primary danger with Mr. Henley’s suggestion is that you will forget to save the document at all. However, Microsoft does have a “fail safe” in that if you close a new document without saving it a prompt will appear, encouraging you to save the document. Additionally, if you have “AutoRecover” turned on you can recover earlier versions of the document or recover unsaved documents.
Another tip if you are starting a document by editing an older one is to immediately make a copy of it so as not to overwrite it. This tip comes from Alexander Paykin during the ABA TECHSHOW 60 in 60. Whether Word, PPT, or an Excel worksheet in Windows, as soon as you open the document to edit it use this keyboard shortcut sequence: Control key (CTRL) and then click A, C, N, V. This selects all the text/slides/worksheet, copies it, opens a new document, and pastes all the information in.
File – Save as Template and Lorem Ipsum
If you are working on a template library to make quick work of generating heavily formatted custom templates for your firm, there are a few tools that make this easy. Create your template document and then when you click “File – Save As” choose save as a template (.dotx) or macro-enabled template (.dotm) from options in the Save as Type dropdown menu. Save these files to your template library and when someone opens the file it opens a new editable document and renames the file to document1.docx – no more overwriting the template documents!
If you want to build your template with filler language to make sure no one mistakes it for a real document, you can add Lorem Ipsum. This Latin phrase is used for placeholders. Type =lorem(p,l) into a document and replace the “p” with the number of paragraphs you want and replace the “l” with the number of sentences you need. You can also just include one number in the parentheses, and it will create that many paragraphs. When ready, place the cursor at the end of the equation and hit Enter to generate your text. For example type =lorem(2,2) on a new line and press enter to create:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas porttitor congue massa.
Fusce posuere, magna sed pulvinar ultricies, purus lectus malesuada libero, sit amet commodo magna eros quis urna. Nunc viverra imperdiet enim.
Another tip, from Mitchell Zoll, is “as soon as you make a template that you like, immediately copy it and name the new one “XYZ Template_Safe_YYMMDD” with the date of that template. If you ever find your template was written over, you will want to be able to just reestablish “Template” as the main one.
Further instructions from Mr. Henley on creating templates in Microsoft Word include:
Create templates (.dotx files) and store them in a location everyone you want to share them with has access to. For simple protection, you can right click the resulting template files, choose properties, and make them read only so people won’t accidentally over-write them. If you want to create a new document based upon a template, you just double-click it. You’ll get a new, un-named document based upon your template with no chance of accidental over-write.
If you want to edit or update the template, then right-click and remove the read-only tag, then right-click again > open. That will open the template for editing. A double-click creates a new document based upon the template; and right-click > open allows you to edit the underlying template (you could also go into Word and simply click File > Open and browse to the template to open it for editing). Using actual templates will give you something to improve/update over-time; if it’s set up right from a Word architectural perspective, the formatting will always work no matter what; and you can share them with others. Templates should have changeable text consistently identified, optional text identified (where the option starts and ends and its test for inclusion/exclusion), and any narrative/instructions typed right into the document as plain text or comments. Template building is a big win that costs nothing except a little time. If you hire someone to do it for you, it’s also one of the least expensive things you can outsource because folks who create templates all the time are typically very fast at it.
For subscribers to Microsoft 365 who are using SharePoint as a shared file repository, or Teams channels for shared files, be aware that you can add templates in SharePoint libraries and Teams channels files. In the “New” menu at the bottom click on “Add template”. Choose an existing .dotx template. When a user goes into the shared library or channel and clicks “New” the template will appear in the drop-down menu, making it easy for users to pull up the template without overwriting it or looking all over for it.
Guard Against Template Malfunction
In 2017 a law firm had to file notice of a data breach with the NC Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division for exposure of personal information pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 75-60 (Identity Theft Protect Act). What happened? A firm employee inadvertently emailed a form document containing pre-filled information relating to a seller in a residential real estate transaction to three individuals outside the Firm who were not otherwise connected to or involved with the transaction. Normally once information is entered into the fillable PDF template form it is saved under a new filename related to the transaction at issue in the Firm’s document management system. However, in this instance the seller’s information was saved directly into the template form itself. The template form was then emailed out later the same day to three individuals who were involved with separate residential real estate transactions. Other information included the seller’s telephone number, mailing address, email address, and the loan number for the mortgage being paid off through the transaction. The Firm became aware of this when one of the real estate agents who had inadvertently received the pre-filled form contacted the Firm.
Whether a PDF form or a Word document, a file can be overwritten, and information saved into the form document. Firms should take steps to reduce this kind of error, considering how best to collect information that can then be added to a form or document. One straightforward way to collect information without affecting the underlying document is to use a survey tool that generates a PDF document, such as Jotform or use the Mail Merge feature in MS Word to insert form data into a document. The risk of overwriting a form is therefore greatly reduced.
Conclusion
Many lawyers’ default to opening an old file to begin editing it for a new work. This behavior introduces a variety of potential pitfalls, including overwriting the previous document, metadata, errors, and version issues. Changing habits to begin to use file templates will not happen overnight. Start small with correspondence, and then move into more sophisticated documents. Once your firm has started embracing document templates then moving forward with other productivity efforts like document assembly will be a little easier – but you have to take the first step!