For legal professionals who use the cloud-based document management system NetDocuments, workspaces form the hub of their legal matters, where all members of a team can access, organize and collaborate on documents, messages and folders related to a matter.

But workspaces can also pose a potential speed bump when getting started on a new matter, because they can be created only by a user with full administrative permissions. While there are strong reasons for this, it can delay a lawyer or other user from starting important work — or at least starting it within NetDocuments.

A product launching today, One Step Workspace, from Legality Software, a subsidiary of Matters in Motion, addresses this problem by enabling any regular user to easily create a workspace whenever needed, without risk to the account configuration.

The company says that the technology simplifies workspace creation and management for both non-administrator legal professionals and NetDocuments administrators.

Legality is also announcing today that it is now a NetDocuments ISV (Independent Software Vendor) partner and that One Step Workspace is listed on the NetDocuments App Directory.

How It Works

With One Step Workspace (OSW), a user who wants to create a workspace clicks a link on the NetDocuments home page to enter the OSW application. From there, the user can add a workspace to any of the cabinets the user works in.

To add a workspace, the user searches for the client, then clicks the client name to add a new matter. OSW automatically recognizes numeric key number sequences and will suggest the next likely number.

The user then chooses a new matter type and clicks Add New to create the workspace. The user can then go directly to the new workspace, or remain in OSW to create another workspace.

If the user is creating a workspace for a new client, the steps are the same, except that instead of searching for an existing client, the user adds the new client. OSW will add the next client number in sequence.

For NetDocuments administrators, Legality says that OSW simplifies the workspace creation process for them by tightly integrating with NetDocuments in order to accelerate workspace generation and automate complex workspace setup. OSW identifies and assigns numeric key values, automatically selecting the next incremental number in sequence so the user does n0t have to identify it manually.

Legality says that OSW has already been in use at several law firm and corporate legal departments, where customers have found it a useful addition. In addition, several legal technology consultants, including Affinity Consulting Group, are already actively marketing it to their clients, the company says.

Legality Software is an Arkansas-based technology company focused on developing products for the legal industry. Founded in 2011 by Robert Gray and Larry Taylor, the company is a subsidiary of Matters in Motion.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.