Sectors / Professional Services / Tracey Solicitors – Will Generator Case Study

Case Study · Professional Services / Legal

Tracey Solicitors: Systemised will drafting process

An employee identified that will drafting — a highly skilled but time-consuming task — could be transformed by creating a Master Will template and an automated Will Generator system.

Professional Services Lean Practitioner 8-Step Problem Solving Brainstorming Impact/Ease Chart Standard Work

Industry

Legal / Personal Injury & Probate

Programme

Lean Practitioner

Location

Dublin, Ireland

Master

Will template covering every clause used in 2 years

Automated

Will Generator system designed and implemented

Significant

Impact on firm's will drafting capacity

The Problem

Will drafting: highly skilled work consuming disproportionate solicitor time

Tracey Solicitors is a Dublin-based law firm with over 30 years’ experience specialising in personal injury and medical negligence. Recognised as a Great Place to Work (Top 20 in 2019 and 2020) and winners of the Most Outstanding Personal Injury Solicitors Award, the firm’s mission is to achieve consistent excellence through best-in-class systems and processes.

An employee identified that will drafting — while requiring significant legal expertise — was consuming disproportionate solicitor time because:

Each will was drafted individually, with solicitors selecting and customising clauses from memory or previous examples
There was no standardised template covering all commonly used clauses
The process was person-dependent — quality and consistency varied by solicitor
Time spent on clause selection and formatting could be better spent on client advice and case work
The firm saw an opportunity to grow the probate side of the business by having a more efficient will production process

The employee recognised that a systemised approach — combining a comprehensive Master Will template with an automated generator — could dramatically reduce drafting time while improving consistency and accuracy.

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The Journey

From individual drafting to a standardised Will Generator

Challenge

Key Challenges

The legal team needed to:

Create a Master Will template encompassing every conceivable clause used in the past two years
Ensure no clauses were missed by consulting main textbooks on will drafting
Build an automated Will Generator system that any solicitor could use
Maintain legal accuracy and client-specific customisation within a standardised framework
Enable the firm to handle a higher volume of will work without increasing solicitor hours

Solution

The Lean Solution

Using the 8-Step Problem-Solving Process with a Kaizen event:

Audited every will clause used by the firm in the previous two years
Consulted main textbooks on will drafting to ensure comprehensive coverage
Created a Master Will template encompassing all identified clauses
Brainstormed the requirements with the team and prioritised using an Impact/Ease chart
Engaged the firm’s In-house System Designer to design and implement the Will Generator
Built the system to allow solicitors to select applicable clauses and generate a complete, formatted will

“To achieve consistent excellence across all aspects of their business through the relentless pursuit of clients’ needs, delivered by a trusted, empathetic and innovative team.”
— Tracey Solicitors mission

Our Approach

8-Step Problem-Solving Process

The 8-Step methodology ensured the team didn’t just build a template — they analysed the full will drafting process, identified root causes of inefficiency, and designed a system that addressed all of them.

Problem

Will drafting consuming disproportionate solicitor time. No standardised template. Quality varies by individual. Firm wants to grow probate work.

Current State

Each will drafted individually from memory or previous examples. Solicitors spending time on clause selection and formatting rather than client advice.

Target

Master Will covering all clauses. Automated generator system. Consistent quality. Increased capacity for will work.

Root Cause

Kaizen event and Impact/Ease chart: no standardised clause library, no automation, person-dependent quality, no system support.

Countermeasures

Audited 2 years of clauses. Consulted textbooks. Created Master Will. Engaged In-house System Designer. Built Will Generator.

Implementation

Will Generator designed, built and deployed by the in-house team. Solicitors trained on the new system.

Evaluation

Significant impact on the firm. Solicitor time freed for client work. Consistency improved. Capacity for will volume increased.

Standardisation

Master Will maintained and updated as new clauses emerge. Will Generator embedded in firm’s case management system.

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Key Outcomes

From craft process to systemised capability

The Will Generator transformed one of the firm’s most time-consuming processes:

Master Will template created. A comprehensive template covering every clause used in the previous two years, cross-referenced with main textbooks — ensuring both completeness and legal accuracy.
Automated Will Generator implemented. The In-house System Designer built and deployed a generator that allows solicitors to select applicable clauses and produce a complete, formatted will — dramatically reducing drafting time.
Consistency improved. Every will produced through the generator follows the same standard, regardless of which solicitor produces it — reducing the risk of omissions or inconsistencies.
Solicitor capacity freed. Time previously spent on clause selection and formatting can now be spent on client advice, case strategy, and business development.
Growth enabled. The more efficient process enables the firm to handle a higher volume of probate work without proportionally increasing solicitor hours.

Learnings

Highly skilled work can still benefit from systematisation — the Will Generator doesn’t replace legal expertise, it amplifies it by removing the repetitive formatting and clause selection work.
A comprehensive audit of past work (2 years of clauses) provided the evidence base for the Master Will — without this, the template would have been incomplete.
Cross-referencing with textbooks ensured completeness beyond the firm’s own experience — a quality assurance step that added significant value.
Having an in-house System Designer was a significant advantage — the system was built by someone who understood both the legal requirements and the technology.
The Kaizen event and Impact/Ease chart ensured the team focused on the highest-impact improvements first, rather than trying to solve everything at once.

Conclusion

Lean in legal: systemising without losing the expertise

This project demonstrates a principle that applies across all professional services: the most skilled, expensive work in a firm is often surrounded by repetitive tasks that can be systemised. The Will Generator didn’t diminish the solicitor’s role — it elevated it by removing the mechanical work and letting them focus on the judgment and client advice that only they can provide.

LeanTeams has worked with Tracey Solicitors using our Lean training programmes. You may also be interested in: Case Study 2 – Preparing Files for Hearing and Case Study 3 – Centralised Undertakings Register. All our case studies are available here.

Tools & Approaches Used