The Art of Using Recycled Agreements and where to find them

In a recent article on Legal Technology,  Justin Hectus writes that much of an attorney’s work consists of the "recycling of documents and information that has proven successful in the past."

So why, you ask, do attorneys get paid the big bucks for recycling work product?

Justin states:

"I believe that the value provided by the attorneys at my firm (and, for that matter, at any firm
of merit) comes in the nuanced interpretation and execution of the matter at hand. We’d be doing our clients a tremendous
disservice if we tried to reinvent the wheel each time we had to create a new agreement, instead of leveraging previously
successful work product and adding the artful interpretations and additions relevant to the current situation. By starting
with a foundation of proven work product and further, by learning as much as we can about our competition, we’re able to
focus our efforts on delivering real value to our clients."

Well put. 

Where can you find agreements drafted by other attorneys?  As the article reports, by using a new service offered by REalDealDocs.  Through their interface one can perform very targeted searches in SEC documents to reveal business agreements of almost any kind.  While all SEC documents are publicly available, it used to be very difficult to find what you were looking for.  RealDealDocs makes it possible for a relatively low fee.

Another source for SEC documents is a website called onecle.com.  Their offering is not as big as that of RealDealDocs; but it is free.