Archie Playbooks Best Practices

This guide covers the purpose and functionality of Archie Playbooks, including what they can and cannot do, and best practices for writing rules that deliver reliable, consistent results.

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Please note, you will need to install the Archie Word Add-In to use Playbooks. 

What are Playbooks?

A Playbook is a collection of rules that tells Archie what to look for when reviewing a document. As a user, you can define the requirements for a playbook (the clauses that must be present, the language that must be used, the sections that must appear) and Archie will apply these requirements against a document you're reviewing in Microsoft Word.

This means your whole team is able to review documents to the same standard, every time. Nothing gets missed because someone was in a hurry, and junior staff get the same guidance as someone with years of experience reviewing that document type.

What are Playbooks useful for?

• Checking required clauses and sections are present.
• Enforcing standard statutory citations and legal references in a document.
• Standardising language and ensuring required legal phrases are used.
• Catching missing party details as written in the document.
• Verifying structural requirements (headings, labelling as text).
• Catching common drafting errors before a document gets sent to an external party.

Understanding your review results

When you run a Playbook, Archie evaluates every rule included in the playbook and returns one of three outcomes for each rule:

This is what it will look like when running a Playbook:

Once a fix is applied, the rule counts as passed in the compliance score.

NOTE: When Archie flags an issue with a rule, it will usually offer a one-click fix with suggested replacement text. However, if the required content is completely missing from the document, a fix suggestion will not be available. Archie will tell you what is missing, but you will need to add it manually into the document.

What Archie Playbooks can and cannot check

Archie can only read the text of the open Word document you are viewing at the time. 

It has no access to the Smokeball matter (e.g. client records, filed documents, or any other information outside the document). If something is not written in the document, Archie cannot check it.

• Archie can verify structure and language - whether the right clauses are present, the wording meets the standard, the correct statutory references and party labels are used.
• Archie cannot verify whether the content is correct - it can see that a purchase price, party name, or governing law is stated, but not whether any of it is right. That remains a matter for the law professional to work through.

In summary, Playbooks can check that a document is structured correctly and contains the right content. However, they cannot tell you whether the information inside that content is accurate.

Rules for writing effective playbooks

Follow the steps to create a playbook and apply the following structure and writing recommendations to build the most effective playbooks for your firm.

Structure and Writing Tips

We recommend using this structure as a starting point:

The document must [contain / include / state] [specific element] [in / within the X section / clause / paragraph].

Matter specific examples:

• Family Law matter - Application for Divorce precedent:
  • The document must include a name, a residential address, and a statement of state residency duration for both the petitioner and the respondent, each identified by their party label in the opening section.
  • The WHEREFORE clause must contain sequentially numbered subsections requesting (1) dissolution of marriage, (2) equitable division of marital property, and (3) attorney's fees.
     
• Employment Law matter - Employment Agreement:
  • The agreement must include a clause specifying the notice period required for termination by either party, stated as a defined number of days or weeks.
  • If the agreement includes a non-compete clause, it must specify a defined duration, a defined geographic scope, and the categories of restricted activity.
     
• Conveyancing Law matter - Residential Purchase Agreement:
  • The agreement must state the total purchase price as a specific dollar amount and identify the amount of the earnest money deposit and who will hold it.
  • The agreement must include a property description that states the full legal address, the lot or parcel number or legal description, and either specifies any inclusions or exclusions such as fixtures or appliances, or explicitly states that no inclusions or exclusions apply.
     
• Estate Planning matter - Will precedent:
  • The will must include an attestation clause stating that the testator signed in the presence of the witnesses and that the witnesses attested the signature at the testator's request, followed by signature blocks for at least two witnesses.
  • Each beneficiary named in the will must be accompanied by a relationship description or a defined class (such as 'my children'), and must be associated with a specific bequest or a share of the residuary estate.

General Guidelines:

• Write rules that check for the presence of specific, named elements.
• Reference the exact section or clause where the element should appear — this helps Archie find it.
• The more precise the language — a full citation, a defined term, a specific phrase — the more reliable the check.
• Write separate rules for separate requirements and do not combine multiple unrelated checks into one rule.
• Make both the rule name and description clear — the name is what users see, the description is what Archie evaluates against.
• Test every rule on a real, fully-drafted document before publishing it.
   
• Do not write rules that depend on information not present in the document.
• Do not expect a rule to confirm that amounts, dates, or names in a document are correct (only that they are present).
• Do not use vague language like 'solid legal argument', 'complete and accurate', or 'appropriate tone'.
• Do not build rules intended to replace a lawyer's substantive judgment.
• Do not write rules for images, charts, or any content that isn't typed document text — Archie cannot see these elements of a document.
• Do not write rules that check or depend on character formatting — bold, italic, font size, or colour text formatting in a document is not visible to Archie so cannot be checked.

Before you publish a Playbook

We recommend going through these questions before creating a new Playbook or adding a new rule to a Playbook:

1. Is every rule answerable solely from the document text?
2. Have I avoided rules that require access to Smokeball matter data to evaluate?
3. Is my pass/fail condition clear enough that two lawyers would agree on the result?
4. Have I written a description for each rule so users understand what it checks?
5. Have I tested the Playbook on a real, fully-drafted document before publishing?
6. Have I avoided rules that ask Archie to assess legal quality rather than document content?

Smokeball AI disclaimer
Like all AI tools, Archie is powerful but not infallible. Always review Archie's findings carefully before acting on them. Archie is a document review assistant, not a substitute for legal judgment.