January 14-17, 2020
Portland, OR
Session Title: Managing a Large Document Assembly Catalog: A Michigan Case Study
Session Description: Automated document assembly projects are a tried and true tool for bridging the access to justice gap. However, they can be cumbersome to manage and keep up to date. Michigan Legal Help manages a catalog of over 100 A2J Guided Interviews and HotDocs Templates. Each year they help 40,000 people using these automated forms. Managing and growing this large catalog takes a coordinated mix of staff and contractor time. In this session, the Michigan team will talk about how they decide which document assembly software to use based on the projected end-user and the form that’s being automated. They’ll talk about how they review and prioritize interviews for upkeep and maintenance. Attendees will hear from a developer who works with Michigan and other states on how his time as a consultant fits into the larger document assembly process. The Michigan team will share the tools (a combination of shared spreadsheets, calendars, Google docs, training materials, and video chats) and tricks that they use to increase their organization’s impact on Michigan’s access to justice gap.