Illustration of the Libraries, Books & Clauses Metaphor

Illustration of the Libraries, Books & Clauses Metaphor

Libraries and Books

   A library consists of up to ten books. Three 'libraries' are depicted above:

(1) Contracts, (2) Estate Planning and (3) Domestic Relations.

   These libraries illustrate the possible major practice areas of a general practice attorney. (The names of the libraries are not critical. They were selected for example purposes only.)

   Each book within a library will typically contain numerous specific clauses on the fairly narrow subject of the book. So, an Estate Planning Library might have separate books (1) Trusts, (2) Wills, (3) Powers of Attorney, (4) Probate, etc. The books, in turn, will have documents and clauses that are fairly narrow in scope and that pertain to the subject of the specific book.

Books & Clauses

   Some clauses in a your books will be 'boilerplate' and will be used with every document. Other clauses allow the operator the ability to create highly personalized documents for the specific client or customer. Add lots of clauses to your books. The more clauses you add to a book the more flexible and powerful your system will be.

   Note: While the above emphasizes a hierarchy from the general to the specific (library>book>clauses), it is not a rule that you must do so. It just makes sense to do so in most cases. But keep in mind that you can (and should) also have a 'general' book. Such a book would contain your general office forms, letterhead, cover letter text, boilerplate text, etc.