Generating Legal Documents Automatically Using Python

Source: Dev.to

Why automate legal documents?

Handling legal documents—such as divorce forms, agreements, or letters—can be repetitive and time‑consuming. Python makes it easy to automate this process, saving both time and effort while reducing errors.

• Efficiency – Fill multiple forms quickly without manual copy‑pasting.
• Consistency – Ensure formatting and content stay uniform.
• Error reduction – Minimize mistakes in repetitive fields like names, dates, or addresses.

Using docxtpl for Word templates

docxtpl allows you to create Word templates with placeholders that can be replaced programmatically.

Installation

pip install docxtpl

Example: Auto‑fill a divorce agreement template

from docxtpl import DocxTemplate

# Load your Word template
doc = DocxTemplate("divorce_template.docx")

# Data to fill
context = {
    'spouse1_name': 'John Doe',
    'spouse2_name': 'Jane Doe',
    'date_of_agreement': '2025-12-11',
    'court_name': 'Los Angeles Family Court'
}

# Render the template and save
doc.render(context)
doc.save("filled_divorce_agreement.docx")

The script produces a ready‑to‑use Word document with all placeholders replaced.

Converting documents to PDF with pdfkit

When a PDF version is required, pdfkit can convert HTML (or rendered Word content) to PDF.

Installation

pip install pdfkit
# You also need wkhtmltopdf installed on your system.

Example: Generate a PDF from HTML

import pdfkit

html_content = """

## Divorce Agreement

Spouse 1: John Doe

Spouse 2: Jane Doe

Date: 2025-12-11

Court: Los Angeles Family Court

"""

pdfkit.from_string(html_content, 'divorce_agreement.pdf')

Now you have a PDF version of the legal document, ready to share or file.

Putting it together

1. Use docxtpl to fill a Word template.
2. Save the filled document as .docx.
3. Convert the content to PDF with pdfkit (or another conversion tool).

This workflow lets you maintain structured, editable templates while delivering universally readable PDFs.

Next steps

• Create templates for the various legal documents you handle regularly.
• Write Python scripts that load the appropriate template, populate it with data, and output both Word and PDF versions.
• Integrate the scripts into your existing workflow or a simple web interface for on‑demand document generation.