Technology has moved on since the days when legislative drafting was done on a typewriter. Here, Propylon’s Engineering Manager and Chief Technical Architect, Kieran Fitzpatrick, addresses why technological advances in the drafting process should never be at the cost of isolating the user.
What we've learned
Meeting our customers' needs
When it comes to efficient bill drafting, our customers all agree that the most important thing for them is a tool that is flexible, accurate, and that saves them time both in the short-term and long-term. Some of the most common responses we received from customers were:
- “The most important feature in an editing tool is one that works in conjunction with our existing systems so that processes can be sped up, not slowed down.
- “The drafting platform and editing tool should respond to and reinforce the legislature and the existing processes, enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and productivity.”
- “Above all, we need technology that allows us to work better, faster, and with ease.”
The most important feature in an editing tool is one that works in conjunction with our existing systems so that processes can be sped up, not slowed down.
what do drafting attorneys want?
- Provides a free-form, familiar word processing environment, with constraints only added to match the legislative process
- Minimizes the need to focus on tagging or structuring content
- Provides ease of access to legislation and supporting documents needed during the drafting process
- Enables drafting users’ to spend more time on the legislation itself, rather than managing the drafting tool
- Allows for unlimited semantic styling that is required for the legislation based on a suite of pre-designed templates
- Accommodates for working outside of normal processes when the rules change
- Auto track changes to the law and conflicts
- Enable the automation of tasks and increase efficiency
- Allows the user to customize the editor without affecting the underlying legislation that is created
- Ensures agency and member requests can be more easily managed
The propylon solution
Client testimonial
In designing our drafting system with Propylon, it was important to our drafters that the system reflected our styles, processes, and procedures rather than requiring drafters to adapt to system requirements. Propylon worked hard to learn our business processes and develop a drafting system to meet our business needs and make our processes more efficient. However, while respecting our processes and procedures, Propylon developers also were willing to make suggestions, based upon their experience, for creating efficiency in our processes. The implementation of our drafting system has been effective in streamlining the entire bill drafting process for drafters, proofreaders, and editors. It has moved us toward a paperless process that involves the transitioning of electronic drafts throughout the entire drafting and review process. In addition, it has significantly reduced the amount of staff time involved in the engrossing and enrolling of bills through the automatic generation of amendment instructions from a marked-up version of a bill.
