Frequently Asked Questions

• I'm having trouble unzipping my downloaded precedents or latest updates. Is there any other way to unzip and view the documents?
  
  You can make the unzipping process easier by using a third party application to unzip the documents for you, rather than using the extraction wizard included with Windows XP and above. Most unzipping applications are freely available online - some popular ones include:
  7zip (http://www.7zip.org/) and
  Freezip (http://members.ozemail.com.au/~nulifetv/freezip/)



• I’ve lost my username and password. How can I retrieve my login details?
  
  The simplest and quickest way to retrieve your login details is to request one to be emailed to you by going to the Precedents home page at www.lawsociety.com.au/precedents, selecting the 'Forgotten Password' icon and following the prompts, or by clicking this link. This will then email your login details to your email address.
  NB: The email address you enter into the box must be the email address that is already registered with us as the Primary Contact Email. If there is no match to the email you enter with the primary contact email in our database, we will not be able to send you your login details. If you cannot retrieve your login details through this method, please use the 'Contact Support Form' found on the Precedents home page.



• I can't seem to download some of the precedents from both the search and browse options?
  
  You will only be able to download precedents for which you have active subscriptions. However you will still be able to search and browse through all the precedents available.



• How do I overwrite the variables?
  
  The Law Society Precedents are text documents with formatted variable fields. The variables within a document are distinguished by slashes and sequential numbers, for example, //1//, //2//, //2a//.
  
  The Law Society Precedents are not distributed with merge codes embedded within the variable fields; therefore there are also no variable text datafiles. To move down a document between variables simply press the F11 function key. To move up a document page press Shift F11. Once the desired variable is highlighted, overwrite the variable by typing in the text required.



• When I delete section breaks, the formatting of my documents change:
  
  Explanatory author notes and special instructions for completing Precedents are contained in the Word Precedents as hidden text. If you are not familiar with hidden text, click the Show/Hide button (¶) on the toolbar to display hidden text. If, for example, you work with your show/hide button off, some Precedents may appear to have a blank first page.
  
  Complete the Precedent / variables (refer previous Q & A item) as required and delete those variables not required, including hidden text notes, but not the section break itself.
  
  IMPORTANT - Section breaks are never to be deleted as they hold the wording in the footer.
  
  Print preview the completed document by pressing Ctrl + F2 (to view how the document will print without hidden text) and take note of which clauses need to be cut and pasted onto the sign off page.
  
  Close the print preview window and return to the document to cut the clauses (but NOT the section break) to be pasted onto the signoff page after the section break but before the words Dated.
  
  Print preview the document again to make sure it paginated correctly.