Question regarding pleadings or motions for attorney clients

[HoustonVirtualParalegals]

For those of you who draft pleadings or motions for your clients, I'm curious about the process for that. Obviously, the attorney will need to supply you with relevant information regarding parties, cause number, court, etc, but how is the actual content of the pleading drafted?

Does the attorney supply you with the language and you draft the document and cite check and Sheppardize it, etc? Or do you draft from scratch?

I have a huge forms library, but am concerned about providing a quality product in light of the fact each case will have very discrete factual and legal circumstances, etc., of which only the attorney would be aware of (at first).

[Masterspieces]

I am not doing this as a virtual paralegal yet, as I am still working for an attorney and have not really opened my business yet, but I have a couple of standard templates that have been used whenever I need to do the initial draft of a pleading. Since you have a forms library, I would draft the pleading and then ask the attorney to revise it for you so you know how s/he wants pleadings to read. Or, ask the attorney if they have a prior pleading with the language they prefer that you could use. Either way, you are making it easier for them because once you know how they want things phrased they won't have to spend too much time reviewing your work.

[StaceyStahl]

The attorney I'm starting with just sent me a flash drive with his most-used documents on it.

[Time Balancers]

The caption for the pleading is done when the case is first open. So that is already fixed and ready to go. My attorneys generally dictate into Dragon the wording that they want in the pleading; plus I have 35 years of examples from which to pull.

[HoustonVirtualParalegals]

Thanks everyone! I have a huge forms library that I will rely on; but just was curious about the most efficient way to serve my clients, and also wanted to know what you all have experienced. I greatly appreciate all the input!

[VeeVA]

I've worked with attorneys for about 8 years total and the legal secretaries have the templates for these, and most of the motions have been done several times, so there is always an motion or pleading allready done. If he or she can provide a copy of one, and you just plug in the lanquage given to you that's easier. I've also created pleadings from scratch, so it depends on the firm and attorneys on what they have on their templates.