In today’s fast-paced legal landscape, every billable hour counts. Yet, many firms continue to lose valuable time—not through complex casework or research—but through something as mundane as document formatting. It might seem like a small inefficiency, but the cumulative impact across an entire firm can be staggering.

Let’s explore just how much time your legal team may be losing to formatting, why it matters more than you think, and what can be done to reclaim that time.

The Hidden Cost of Formatting

Lawyers are trained to analyse, negotiate, and advocate—not to wrangle with Word templates or battle bullet point alignment. However, a surprising proportion of their day is spent doing just that. Whether it’s adjusting margins, fixing inconsistent headers, or reformatting citations, document preparation often eats into hours that could otherwise be spent on substantive legal work.

For many firms, these tasks are written off as non-billable time. Individually, ten minutes spent fixing spacing might seem negligible. But across dozens of documents and multiple team members, it quickly adds up. Industry surveys suggest that legal professionals can spend between two to five hours a week on formatting-related tasks. Multiply that across a 20-person team, and you’re looking at hundreds of hours lost annually—time that could have been spent serving clients or developing business.

Why Formatting Takes So Long

At its core, document formatting isn’t difficult. But in legal environments, it becomes complicated for several reasons:

1. High Standards for Presentation

Legal documents must not only be accurate but also impeccably presented. Clients, courts, and counterparties expect precision and professionalism. A misplaced paragraph marker or inconsistent numbering can undermine credibility, prompting lawyers to review every page meticulously.

2. Complex Templates and Versions

Most firms rely on templates, but over time these can become unwieldy. Layers of outdated styles, hidden formatting codes, and manually inserted elements make each new document harder to manage. Lawyers often copy text between versions or from previous matters, inadvertently carrying formatting issues with them.

3. Lack of Consistent Tools

Despite the sophistication of today’s legal technology, many teams still rely on generic word processors without integrated formatting support. Some firms have invested in document automation systems, but if those systems aren’t well configured, the output can require extensive manual clean-up.

4. Limited Support Resources

Not every firm has a dedicated document specialist or IT support available at short notice. When lawyers face a formatting issue, they often resort to trial and error, consuming far more time than necessary.

The Impact Beyond Lost Time

While the direct loss of billable hours is significant, the broader implications can be just as damaging.

1. Reduced Profit Margins

When time spent on formatting cannot be billed, it erodes the firm’s profitability. Even small inefficiencies—say, half an hour per day—can equate to thousands of dollars in lost revenue over a year.

2. Increased Frustration and Burnout

No lawyer entered the profession to spend hours adjusting font styles. Persistent administrative work contributes to frustration, reduces job satisfaction, and increases burnout risk—particularly for junior lawyers expected to manage the brunt of document preparation.

3. Inconsistent Brand Presentation

Every client-facing document is an extension of your firm’s identity. Inconsistent formatting—varying fonts, margins, or numbering systems—dilutes your brand and may give clients the impression of disorganisation.

4. Risk of Human Error

The more manual handling involved, the greater the risk of mistakes. Misnumbered clauses, overlooked footnotes, or altered cross-references can have real legal and financial consequences.

Quantifying the Problem

It’s one thing to acknowledge inefficiency; it’s another to measure it. Yet, many firms don’t track the time their staff spend on non-billable document work. Without metrics, inefficiency becomes invisible.

Here’s a simple exercise: ask your team to record how long they spend each day formatting documents—adjusting spacing, fixing styles, aligning tables, and so on. Even if it’s just a week-long snapshot, the results can be eye-opening.

Let’s consider an example. Suppose each lawyer spends three hours a week on formatting, at an average billing rate of $350 per hour. Over a year, that’s $54,600 in potential billable time per lawyer. Across a 10-lawyer firm, that’s more than half a million dollars in lost opportunity.

Those figures make it clear—formatting isn’t just a nuisance. It’s a cost centre hiding in plain sight.

The Role of Technology

Fortunately, technology can help reclaim this lost time. Document automation and formatting tools have evolved far beyond simple templates. Modern systems can automatically apply firm-approved styles, number clauses, update cross-references, and generate tables of contents—all in seconds.

1. Document Automation

Automation tools enable lawyers to generate complex contracts or pleadings from pre-set templates with standardised formatting. This not only ensures consistency but also dramatically reduces manual intervention.

2. Style Management Software

Dedicated formatting tools can clean up imported text, reapply firm styles, and strip out rogue formatting with a single click. These solutions are particularly useful for teams dealing with legacy documents or client-provided materials.

3. Integration with Legal Platforms

Some practice management systems now integrate with advanced document tools, ensuring version control and uniform presentation across teams. This level of integration minimises the friction between drafting, collaboration, and final output.

Culture and Training: The Human Factor

Technology alone isn’t a silver bullet. Many formatting problems stem from inconsistent habits and lack of training. A firm culture that values efficiency must also equip its staff to achieve it.

1. Standard Operating Procedures

Establish clear guidelines for document creation and formatting. Whether it’s citation style, clause numbering, or font choice, consistency reduces rework and confusion.

2. Training and Knowledge Sharing

Regular training sessions on document management and formatting best practices can yield surprising time savings. Even seasoned lawyers may not be aware of shortcuts or automated features built into their software.

3. Encourage Use of Specialists

Where possible, engage document specialists or a centralised support team. Delegating formatting to experts frees lawyers to focus on substantive work and ensures a consistently polished final product.

Reclaiming Lost Hours

Imagine reclaiming just one hour a day across your legal team. That’s five additional billable hours per week per lawyer—or roughly 250 hours a year. For most firms, that’s the equivalent of an additional month of productive time per lawyer without increasing headcount.

The benefits go beyond revenue. Reduced administrative load means less stress, better morale, and more time for client engagement, business development, and strategic thinking.

The key is to approach document efficiency not as a minor operational issue, but as a strategic priority. Every minute reclaimed is a step towards greater profitability, stronger branding, and a more satisfied workforce.

Conclusion: Time to Rethink “The Way It’s Always Been Done”

The legal profession prides itself on precision, yet tolerates inefficiencies that would be unacceptable in other industries. Formatting documents may seem trivial, but its cumulative impact on time, morale, and profitability is far from minor.

By acknowledging the hidden cost of formatting, investing in better tools, and fostering a culture of efficiency, firms can unlock enormous value. In an era where clients demand more for less, that reclaimed time might just be the competitive edge your firm needs.

So, the next time someone says, “It’ll only take a few minutes to fix the formatting,” ask yourself—how many of those minutes are you really willing to write off?