Now having said all this, you're probably thinking, well I'll just bring up a blank document, input all my text, and have my secretary or word processing department worry about the formatting. In addition to setting up formatting and other settings for a document type, you can be prompted for vital information, such as author, recipient, judge's name, etc. You can even set up default responses for prompts that rarely change from document to document. Using these tools allows the creation of documents to be more efficient and to fine-tune your word processor and even fix annoying bugs. Also, the documents that leave your firm all have a consistent formatting and look.
Consistency also reduces the time spent in training and in support.
For example, a word processing staff member who takes over a job from a litigation secretary could easily continue with changes and direct input to the document if styles are used. Styles contain pre-defined formatting for each paragraph in the document. All you have to do is add the appropriate text. This formatting could include line spacing, indentation, automatic paragraph numbering, and any font attributes, just to name a few. Templates can be quite elaborate or very simple.