A2J Author (Access to Justice Author) is an open-source, cloud-based document assembly platform designed for self-represented litigants. Developed by CALI (Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction) and IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law’s Center for Access to Justice & Technology. Enables non-technical authors from courts, legal services organizations, and law schools to build guided interviews that generate court documents. The first document assembly interface designed specifically for pro se litigants. Widely adopted in the US access-to-justice community. Academic publications cite it. Stanford Justice Innovation Lab references it. LawNext directory listed. Not a commercial product — open source, free for legal aid organizations.
Capabilities
Spans 5 product areas: Document Automation and Assembly, Expert Systems and Decision Automation, App Development, Legal Services and Legal Aid, Law Schools.
Workflow Coverage
Based on published feature listings, this tool maps to 7 workflow areas:
- Document Drafting & Automation — Automated Document Generation and Assembly, Conditional Logic Support, Language Support for International Languages, Process Automation (+8 more)
- Firm Operations & Growth — Integrations with Document Management Systems, Integrations with CRM, Integrations with Digital Signature Apps
- Document Review & Management — Document sets/Packages Supported, Extranets or Portals for Document Sharing, Version Control
- Communication & Collaboration — Collaboration Tools for Document Automation, Integrations with Business Process Systems
- Filing & Compliance — Encryption in transit
- Research & Analysis
- Client & Matter Lifecycle
Workflow mappings derived from published feature lists. Not independently verified.
What We Haven’t Verified
This page was assembled from publicly available information. Feature claims and workflow mappings are based on what the vendor and third-party listings publish — not hands-on testing or practitioner feedback.
Workflows
Based on practitioner evidence, A2j Author is used in these workflows:
What practitioners struggle with
Real frustrations from legal professionals — the problems A2j Author addresses (or should address). Sourced from practitioner reviews, Reddit threads, and case studies.
Small firm creates the same lease, will, motion to dismiss, or discovery request from scratch every time — no forms library, no document automation, and setting up templates in most PM tools requires a consultant
Legal ops team wants to automate intake, NDA generation, and approval routing but the firm's IT won't give them developer resources — they need a no-code platform that legal can own without writing a single line of code, but generic tools like Zapier don't understand legal workflows
Couple going through a relatively straightforward uncontested divorce is quoted $10,000-15,000+ per person by traditional family law attorneys — for what amounts to filling out state-specific forms, negotiating a few asset splits, and filing paperwork. They don't need a full-service attorney for every step, but they also can't afford to mess up court filings that affect custody, property division, and their financial future. Need a middle ground between 'hire a $350/hr attorney for everything' and 'download blank forms from the court website and hope for the best'
Non-lawyer business owner gets a 30-page SaaS vendor contract from their cloud provider — they know they should have a lawyer review it but it's a $500/month tool and the legal review would cost more than a year's subscription. They sign without reading and discover an auto-renewal clause with 90-day notice requirement buried in section 14.3
Where it fits in your workflow
Before A2j Author
Self-represented litigant needs to file court documents → accesses A2J Guided Interview online → answers plain-language questions
After A2j Author
A2J Author generates completed court forms → litigant files with the court. For authors: legal aid staff or law school clinics build the guided interviews using A2J's authoring tool.
Integrations & hand-offs
A2J Author → court filing systems (generates documents in court-accepted formats). A2J Author ↔ HotDocs (underlying document assembly engine). A2J Author ↔ legal aid organizations (deployment infrastructure).
Community Data
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