Getting Started with the Smokeball Precedent Library

Smokeball's Precedent Library is where you will find and generate automated documents and forms for your matter.

Access the Precedent Library

To access the Precedent Library, open a matter file and select Precedent from the Matter Action Bar.

Precedent Profiles

All the precedents in the Smokeball Precedent Library are categorised into Precedent Profiles. They are easily recognisable by the yellow folder with a blank document icon:

We have three types of Precedent Profiles:

Matter Category Precedent Profile

Each Matter Type Category (Practice Area) has its own Precedent Profile of the same name. For example, the Conveyancing NSW Matter Type Category has a Conveyancing (NSW) Precedent Profile.

Smokeball provides folders under these Precedent Profiles which include common non-legally drafted documents, and shortcuts to relevant Court & Authority forms.

Opening the Precedent Library will open the matter's corresponding Precedent Profile by default.

For example, below is a NSW Purchase matter type which opens to the Conveyancing (NSW) Precedent Profile and its corresponding Purchase Folder:

Court and Authority Forms by Jurisdiction

These are the Precedent Profiles for each Jurisdiction that holds all the forms and documents that Smokeball obtains from courts, authorities and government bodies. They are organised in folders by court/authority/government body name.

When you open the Precedent Library from a matter, the Court & Authority Forms Section will automatically show you the Court & Authority forms and documents available for that State/Territory and also Federal forms and documents.

For example, in a NSW matter, it will show you all the:

• NSW Forms e.g. Children’s Court of NSW Forms, NSW Conveyancing Forms, District Court of NSW Forms; and the
• Federal Forms e.g. i.e. ARNECC Forms, ASIC Forms, ATO Forms, Discharge Authorities.

The Smokeball Legal Product Team constantly automates, updates and adds new Court and Authority Forms. View the latest updates to Court and Authority Forms on our Release Notes.

If you don’t see a Court and Authority form here and would like to see it in Smokeball, you can place a request in the Precedent Library by providing a link to the form from the actual source here.

Marketplace Precedents

Marketplace Precedents are documents created by Precedent authors who are partnered with Smokeball. They span a wide variety of Matter Types and require an additional subscription to use. Learn more about Marketplace Precedents.

Each Marketplace Author has their own Precedent Profile. When you subscribe to a Marketplace Author you will see its folder appear under the Marketplace Precedents section:

Searching in the Precedent Library

Select the arrow icon on the bottom-left corner of the Precedent Library to open the folder directory. 

Tip: Select Show all Precedent Profiles to also view Precedents outside of the current matter's Matter Type.

Use the Search bar on the top-right corner of the Precedent Library to find a specific Precedent.

Create a Precedent folder

Organise your most-used Precedents into folders by selecting Add a folder.

Add your own Precedent

If you want to automate your own Precedent or add an existing Precedent to the Precedent Library, select Add a precedent. You can upload Word documents or PDFs. 

Add an Archie prompt shortcut

If you have the Archie add-on, you can create a shortcut to run specific Prompt Library prompts directly from the Smokeball Precedent Library.

To create a shortcut, click on Add a precedent and select the Archie Prompt tab.

Find the prompt from the two drop-down menus at the bottom of this window. The first drop-down menu allows you to choose from either Your Prompts, your Firm's Prompts, or Prompts created by the Smokeball Team. Then, choose your desired prompt from the second drop-down menu.

To use the prompt, double-click on it from the Precedent Library. Archie will open in a new window and run the prompt.

Request a Court and Authority Form

You can submit a request for the Smokeball Legal Product Team to add a publicly accessible Court and Authority Form (e.g. forms from government bodies). 

Add a shortcut to a Court and Authority Form folder

To access commonly used Court and Authority Form folders, add them as a shortcut to your main Precedent folders.

1. Open the Precedent folder you want to add a shortcut to (e.g. Conveyancing/Purchase)
2. Select Manage Form Shortcuts and click on a folder from the panel that opens up.
   
3. Click Add shortcut. The folder will appear in the directory.
   
4. Repeat for any other folders you want to add.

Additional tips

• Right-click is your best friend in the Precedent Library.
  • Right-clicking on a document allows you to access a wide range of actions, such as renaming, deleting or opening Precedents in Modify mode to edit them.
    
  • If you are having trouble finding a Precedent, use the Search bar on the top-right corner and click on Search all folders. This will search for the document across all Smokeball Precedents, Court and Authority Forms and Marketplace Precedents you are subscribed to.