Clio Draft: Create or Edit Word Document Templates

You can create Word document templates in Clio Draft in two ways: by converting existing documents using the AI Template Builder in Clio Draft, or by building a Word document template from scratch using the Microsoft Word Template Builder add-in. This article covers the latter option, specifically the first of four steps in the process. Before you begin, make sure you have installed the Template Builder add-in.

Create templates manually

Start from scratch

If you need complete control over field creation and placement from the beginning, you can start a template from scratch using the Clio Draft Template Builder add-in.

1. Open the Word document you want to turn into a template.
2. In the Home ribbon, click Clio Draft Template Builder to open the add-in.
3. If necessary: Sign in to the add-in using your Clio Draft login credentials.
4. Enter a name for the template and then click Continue.
5. Click Start from scratch.

Import fields from existing templates

If you want to create a new template that relies largely on the same type of information as one of your existing templates, you can also create a new template that imports fields from an existing template.

1. Open the Word document you want to turn into a template.
2. In the Home ribbon, click Clio Draft Template Builder to open the add-in.
3. If necessary: Sign in to the add-in using your Clio Draft login credentials.
4. Enter a name for the template and then click Continue.
5. Click Import fields from existing templates.
6. Choose an existing template, then click Import.

Edit templates 

To update an existing template, you will need to open it using the Clio Draft Template Builder add-in inside Microsoft Word.

1. Open Microsoft Word on your computer and sign in to the Clio Draft add-in. 
2. In the Home ribbon, click Clio Draft Template Builder to open the add-in panel.
   • If prompted, sign in to the add-in using your Clio Draft credentials.
3. Click the three-line menu icon at the bottom of the add-in panel and select Templates to access the templates list. 
4. Select the template you want to update from the list. The template content will appear in the document.

Customise the template content 

Once a template is open in the Template Builder add-in, you can make changes to the document text. You can directly edit any non-field-related text within your Microsoft Word document and add all possible clauses or sections that may need to be included under certain conditions. You can also add specific placeholder text that you will be able to replace with information from Clio in later steps of you setting up the template.

Next steps

Now that your template has been created, you can learn how to add, edit, and remove cards and fields and how to use conditional logic in your drafting process. These processes are where you create the "rules" about how to use Clio data to add or remove specific information to or from your document or to add or remove clauses so that the document is appropriate for a specific matter or contact:

• Clio Draft: Manage Cards and Fields in the Template Builder
• Clio Draft: Add Conditional Logic to Word Templates