Document Merging - Failed to merge a protected document.

Problem 

When trying to merge a document you are presented with the error: Failed to merge. This method or property is not available because the document is a protected document.

This issue occurs regardless of whether you have the document set as an LM or WD document type in the template details screen.

Solution 

When the Word document has editing restrictions in effect protecting the document against changes, LawMaster is unable to process the document as usual. 

To avoid this Word restriction, you may:

1. Open the document template via Main Menu > Workflow Development > Document Templates for editing. 
2. In Word, go to the Review ribbon item and click the Restrict Editing option in the Protect group.
   
   
   
   
3. If the document is protected, you will see a panel open which includes a Stop Protection button. 
4. Click the Stop Protection button:
   1. If the document is not password protected, then the document should now be unprotected and you can save and close it to save the unprotected version back to LawMaster. 
   2. If you are prompted for a password and you know the password, enter the password to unlock it, then save and close it to save the unprotected version back to LawMaster. 
   3. If you are prompted for a password and you do not know the password, you will need to ask the document author for the password before you can unlock the document.