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By Lawyers - Using Guides and Precedents

  • Jun 16, 2026
  • Knowledge

How To
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There are four components to By Lawyers publications:

  • Matter plans
  • Commentary
  • Precedents
  • Reference materials
  • Desktop
  • Web
  • Ipad
  • Android

Accessing By Lawyers Publications in LEAP

 

  1. Open a LEAP matter.

  2. Make sure you're on the Details & Correspondence tab.

  3. Select Forms & Precedents from the toolbar at the top of the screen.

  4. Click on the Legal Guides tab.

    The By Lawyers Matter plan will display in the window.

 
Click to edit heading

Click the  icon in the top right corner and select Set as Default Tab if you would like the Legal Guides tab to open as the default window whenever you open the Forms & Precedents from a matter.

 
Click to edit heading

If you are unable to access your ByLawyers subscription, you may need to contact LEAP Support for an account resynchronisation by the Accounts team to reinstate access to ByLawyers.

Matter Plans

 

The Matter plan is a roadmap for conducting the matter.

Clicking on Legal Guides displays the relevant Matter plan for the matter type you are in.

  • The Commentary Icon commentary and  Precedent icon  precedents are arranged in sequential order in the matter plan. Each section of commentary and each precedent can be accessed by clicking on its title.
  • new (1).png Clicking the Expand  icon in the top right corner will expand all sections of the entire matter plan and reveal the content within each folder. Clicking it again will collapse all sections of the matter plan.

Commentary 

 

The Full Commentary appears at the top of each Matter plan and each separate section of the commentary is placed throughout the matter plan and can be accessed by clicking its specific heading.

Clicking the popout icon will open the commentary in a new window outside of the Forms & Precedents window. 

new (1).pngWithin the commentary popout window:  

  • You can use the Commentary Index on the left to navigate to any section of the commentary.
  • Use Search Commentary field to search for specific keywords or links.
  • You can adjust the text size of the commentary by clicking the IGV3 Text Resizer button.png Resize Text button on the right of the window.

Precedents

 

To open a precedent, simply hover over the one you'd like to use and click to open it. The Precedent will open in Microsoft Word and automatically populate with information from your LEAP matter.

Many By Lawyers precedents contain content controls allowing you to select relevant content for inclusion.

When hovering over a precedent when viewing the matter plan, two icons will appear on the right:

  • Preview 
  • Modify Precedent  

Preview Precedent

 

Clicking thePreview button.jpg icon will open a preview of the document.

The Preview window has additional features on the toolbar such as:

  • Thumbnail view on the sidebar
  • Creating a document from the preview window
  • Printing the document
  • Additional preview tools
 
Click to edit heading

Click the elipses.png icon in the top right to select whether you'd like to Open/Close the Preview Window when Creating Documents.

Modify Precedent

 

To modify a precedent, click the Modify button.jpg icon. 

Your precedent will start to download and open in Microsoft Word for you to make any amendments.

Accessing By Lawyers Publications

 

  1. Open a LEAP matter.

  2. Make sure you're on the Details & Correspondence tab.

  3. Select Forms & Precedents.

    The Forms & Precedents window will open.

  4. Click on Legal Guides.

    The By Lawyers Matter plan will display in the window.

 
Click to edit heading

If you are unable to access your ByLawyers subscription, you may need to contact LEAP Support for an account resynchronisation by the Accounts team to reinstate access to ByLawyers.

Matter Plans

 

The Matter Plan is a roadmap for conducting the matter.

Clicking on Legal Guides displays the relevant Matter plan for the matter type you are in.

  • The Commentary Icon commentary and  Precedent icon  precedents are arranged in sequential order in the matter plan. Each section of commentary and each precedent can be accessed by clicking on its title.
  • Clicking the Expand  icon in the top right corner will expand all sections of the entire matter plan and reveal the content within each folder. Clicking it again will collapse all sections of the matter plan.

Commentary

 

The Full Commentary appears at the top of each Matter plan and each separate section of the commentary is placed throughout the matter plan and can be accessed by clicking its specific heading.

Clicking the popout icon will open the commentary in a new window outside of the Forms & Precedents window. 

  • You can use the Commentary Index on the left to navigate to any section of the commentary.
  • Use Search Commentary field to search for specific keywords or links.
  • You can adjust the text size of the commentary by clicking the IGV3 Text Resizer button.png Resize Text button on the right of the window.

Precedents

 

To open a precedent, simply hover over the one you'd like to use and click to open it. The Precedent will open in Microsoft Word and automatically populate with information from your LEAP matter.

Many By Lawyers precedents contain content controls allowing you to select relevant content for inclusion.

When hovering over a precedent when viewing the matter plan, two icons will appear on the right:

  • Preview - clicking the Preview button.jpg icon will open a preview of the document.

  • Modify Precedent - to modify a precedent, click the Modify button.jpg icon. The precedent will start to download and open in Microsoft Word for you to make any amendments.

Accessing By Lawyers Publications in LEAP Mobile

 

  1. Select and open your LEAP Matter.

  2. Make sure you are on the Correspondence tab.

  3. Tap the iPhone Add Icon.png icon and tap Guides & Precedents.

    The Guides & Precedents screen will open.

  4. Tap Integrated Guides to the right of the Guides & Precedents tab.

    IGV4 Integrated tab on iPad.png

  5. The By Lawyers matter plan will display on your screen.

    Matter Plan on Ipad.png

 
Click to edit heading

If you are unable to access your By Lawyers subscription, you may need to contact LEAP Support for an account resynchronisation by the Accounts team to reinstate access to By Lawyers.

Matter Plans

 

The Matter plan is a roadmap for conducting the matter.

Tap on Integrated Guides to display the relevant Matter plan for the matter type you are in.

Matter Plan on Ipad.png

  • The Commentary Icon commentary and  Precedent icon  precedents are arranged in sequential order in the Matter plan. Each section of commentary and each precedent can be accessed by tapping on its title.
  • new (1).png Tap the Expand  icon in the top right corner to expand all sections of the entire matter plan and reveal the content within each folder. Tap the button again to collapse all sections of the matter plan.

Commentary

 

The Full Commentary appears at the top of the Matter plan. It can be read from start to finish and accessed simply by tapping on it.

Once the commentary is open on your screen, simply scroll up or down to read through it.

Within the commentary, you can use the following options:

  • Search Commentary - search any word or phrase within the commentary
  • Matter Plan - return back to the main matter plan
  • Table of Contents - displays the table of contents with bookmark links
  • Font Size - adjust the text size on your screen

UK Commentary

Precedents

 

To open a precedent, simply tap on the precedent name or tap theicon the preview the precedent.

The precedent will open Microsoft Word and will automatically populate with the information from your LEAP matter.

Accessing By Lawyers Publications in LEAP Mobile

 

  1. Open a LEAP Matter.

  2. Make sure you are on the Correspondence tab.

  3. Tap the iPhone Add Icon.png icon and tap Forms & Precedents.

    The Forms & Precedents screen will open.

  4. Tap Legal Guides to the right of the Forms & Precedents tab.

  5. The By Lawyers matter plan will display on your screen.

 
Click to edit heading

If you are unable to access your By Lawyers subscription, you may need to contact LEAP Support for an account resynchronisation by the Accounts team to reinstate access to By Lawyers.

Matter Plans

 

The Matter plan is a roadmap for conducting the matter.

Tap on Legal Guides to display the relevant Matter plan for the matter type you are in.

  • The Commentary Icon commentary and  Precedent icon  precedents are arranged in sequential order in the Matter plan. Each section of commentary and each precedent can be accessed by tapping on its title.
  • Tap the icon in the top right corner to expand all sections of the entire matter plan and reveal the content within each folder. Tap the button again to collapse all sections of the matter plan.

Commentary

 

The Full Commentary appears at the top of the Matter plan. It can be read from start to finish and accessed simply by tapping on it.

Once the commentary opens on your screen, simply scroll up or down to read it.

Within the commentary, you can use the following options:

  • Search Commentary - search any word or phrase within the commentary
  • Matter Plan - return back to the main matter plan
  • Table of Contents - displays the table of contents with bookmark links
  • Font Size - adjust the text size on your screen

Precedents

 

To open a precedent, simply tap on the precedent name or tap theicon to preview the precedent.

The precedent will open Microsoft Word and will automatically populate with the information from your LEAP matter.

Last Modified Date
16/06/2026 1:47 AM
Title
By Lawyers - Using Guides and Precedents
URL Name
By-Lawyers-Using-Guides-and-Precedents-UK

Resolution
CompanionBy LawyersWorking With By Lawyers Publications
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By Lawyers - Using Guides and Precedents