Saving and previewing documents

Previewing documents

• When viewing documents in a local folder, you can click the “Show the preview pane” icon on the top right to see a preview of each document as you scroll through the folder.

Document titles

• Check whether your firm has a best practice guide for choosing document titles (e.g. including the matter name, document type and date in a specific order/format).

Document management systems

• Check whether you are expected to always save documents to the firm’s central document management system. 
• Doing so usually means that: (a) others can access these documents directly, which can be essential if a document is needed urgently and you are not at your desk; and (b) when you subsequently amend and save the document, a record will remain of the previous version(s) of the document. 
• This can be particularly helpful if a number of different people are editing the document, as you can track through all the different changes. In addition, if the document later corrupts, mistakes are made that need to be rectified, or proposed new wording is rejected, having access to older versions means you can go back and copy the original text into the latest version.

Creating and editing PDFs

• Converting PDFs: you can easily convert a document to a PDF by right clicking the file in whatever folder you have saved it into, then clicking “Create PDF from file”.
• Printing to PDF: if you open a document and click File > Print, then select “PDF Printer” as your printer, a PDF version will be created. This is useful, as you can edit settings (e.g. the header and footer) when you first reach the print menu, and create a PDF version that takes into account these settings.
• Combining PDFs: you can easily combine files to form a single PDF by highlighting multiple files, right clicking the files whilst they are highlighted, then selecting “Combine files as one PDF”.
• Editing PDFs: depending on the software your firm uses, there are many ways in which you can edit PDFs. In programs such as Nuance, you can add text, make the document searchable, change the order of pages, add and delete pages, rotate pages, combine PDF documents and redact sections of documents.

Comparing documents (“redlining” or “blacklining”)

You will likely need to carry out hundreds of document comparisons during a training contract, which typically involves comparing different versions of a document to identify the changes that have been made since the previous draft. You will usually be asked to send a comparison alongside a “clean” version of a document (i.e. a version without track changes) when submitting a piece of work. 

Different supervisors use different jargon when asking you to do this, including asking you to create a “redline” or “blackline”. You can compare documents in Microsoft Word, although most large firms subscribe to a dedicated program that lets you view historical differences between two versions of a document (e.g. Litera Change-Pro).

Practical tips: make sure that you select the documents that you want to form the basis of a comparison in the correct order. If you select the old and new versions in the wrong order, the programme will treat the older version as the newer version, meaning all new changes will show as deleted track changes. Also be clear on which versions you should use to form the basis of the comparison. For example, should you compare the latest version with the very first version, or with the previous draft? Finally, where possible, try to compare documents that are in the same format (e.g. two Microsoft Word documents), otherwise slight changes in formatting may result in entire passages appearing as if they are new or have been deleted.

Redacting documents

Redaction: redacting means striking or blanking out parts of a document in order to prevent another party from reading those specific parts whilst inspecting the document. For example, parties may wish to redact sensitive commercial information (e.g. financial information) or personal data (e.g. employee names) in order to protect their commercial interests and meet their compliance obligations. Depending on the context, there can be strict and complex rules governing parties’ freedom to redact, especially when it comes to disclosure that forms part of litigation or regulatory proceedings.

When redacting text, make sure you have permanently applied the redactions before sending the document to the other side, otherwise they may be able to reverse your redactions (simply by deleting the black rectangles covering sections of the document). In addition, make sure that you save a back-up of the document before applying your redactions, as once permanently applied, redactions cannot usually be undone.