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A legal automation platform is a centralized system that streamlines the way legal teams manage requests, matters, and workflows. It brings structure, visibility, and efficiency to legal operations by reducing repetitive tasks, enabling self-service for the business, and surfacing real-time data on team performance.
Legal teams today are turning to legal automation software to save time, enhance legal service delivery, improve the stakeholder experience, and demonstrate value to the broader business.
Let’s explore the key features of an effective legal automation platform, how they drive operational transformation, and what to look for when evaluating the right solution for your team.
Why Legal Teams Are Turning to Legal Automation Software
Legal teams are constantly navigating rising workloads, increasing regulatory complexity, and heightened expectations from the business. Rather than relying on disconnected tools and manual processes, legal teams are turning to legal workflow automation software to introduce consistency, transparency, and control to the full lifecycle of legal work.
Here’s why automation is becoming a strategic priority for high-performing legal teams:
What Defines a Legal Automation Platform?
While many legal tools promise to solve a specific pain point (i.e. CLMs for like contract storage) a legal automation platform takes a broader, more integrated approach. It both automates tasks that don’t need lawyer intervention and brings organization to how legal work flows through the business.
A legal automation platform is defined by its ability to centralize and orchestrate legal operations across multiple use cases. From intake and triage to approvals, escalations, and reporting, it connects the dots across teams, tools, and processes.
End-to-End Workflow Automation
Automates entire legal processes such as document generation, contract lifecycle management (CLM), matter intake, task assignment, deadline management, regulatory checks, and more. This enables more consistent and repeatable outcomes.
Centralized Intake & Matter Management
Captures all legal work from various sources in one place, creating a single source of truth for visibility and reporting.
No-Code Configurability
Some legal automation platforms like Checkbox empower legal ops and legal teams to build and adapt workflows on their own, without relying on IT or external vendors.
Scalability Across Use Cases
Supports the full spectrum of legal work from self-service NDAs to complex cross-functional approvals, all within a single system. Legal automation platforms are not constrained to one type of matter like contracts.
Actionable Insights & Reporting
Surfaces real-time data on legal team performance, request volume, and bottlenecks. This is key to demonstrating value to leadership and generating reports quickly and accurately.
Core Features of Leading Legal Automation Platforms
Once legal teams decide to invest in automation, the next question is: what features actually matter? For a legal automation platform to prove useful and generate a high ROI, it should support your team’s current needs while scaling with you as those needs evolve. Here are the core features that define leading legal automation platforms:
1. AI-Powered Intake & Triage
Capturing legal requests through structured, intelligent intake forms (whether thats via email, Slack, or a company portal) ensures no matters are overlooked or accidentally missed. AI-powered triage helps auto-route matters to the right team member based on predefined rules such as priority, category, or complexity.
2. Customizable, No-Code Workflow Automation
Legal teams need the flexibility to tailor workflows without waiting on IT. Leading platforms such as Checkbox offer no-code workflow building tools that allow lawyers and legal ops to design and update processes easily and quickly.
3. Real-Time Matter Tracking & Collaboration
With a centralized dashboard built into your legal automation tool, teams can track the status of all matters in real time. Communication between legal and the business becomes effortless, with visibility into the status of matters, who’s doing what, and where matters are getting stuck.
4. Integrated Self-Service Experiences
Enable business stakeholders to generate routine documents or submit legal requests through guided workflows, without needing to involve legal for every task. This reduces backlogs while improving turnaround time and satisfaction.
5. Robust Analytics & Reporting
From volume trends and team workload to turnaround time and resolution rates, strong dashboard and reporting tools help legal teams quantify their performance and make data-driven decisions.
6. Seamless Integration with Existing Tools
A platform should plug into your existing tech stack. For example, Checkbox integrates with tools like Salesforce, Slack, Microsoft 365, DocuSign, and Ironclad, so legal doesn’t become a siloed system where every update must be done manually.
How Legal Automation Software Transforms Operations
By centralizing work, automating routine processes, and surfacing real-time data, legal automation tools help in-house legal departments streamline workflows and ultimately, push the business forward by shifting focus to high-impact initiatives.
Legal automation platforms bring all legal work into one place, improving visibility. This centralized view allows teams to track every request and matter easily and in one convenient location.
Efficiency is another key outcome. With automation handling repeatable tasks like NDAs, contract reviews, and policy approvals, legal teams can manage higher volumes of work without increasing headcount or burning out. Structured intake and self-service tools also reduce friction between legal and the business. Stakeholders know exactly how to engage legal, what information they need to provide, and where their request stands. This leads to faster responses and fewer back-and-forths.
Finally, automation unlocks powerful data and insights. Real-time analytics that are updated automatically reveal trends in request volume, bottlenecks, and team performance. Legal leaders can use this data to allocate resources more effectively, identify areas for improvement, and demonstrate legal’s impact with confidence.
Evaluating the Right Legal Automation Platform for Your Needs
Choosing the right legal automation platform is a strategic decision that can shape how your legal team operates for years to come. With so many solutions on the market, it’s essential to focus on what will truly drive impact for your team and your business.
1. Identify Pain Points
Start by grounding your evaluation in your team’s current pain points. Are you overwhelmed by unstructured intake? Struggling to track workload or demonstrate legal’s value? Prioritize platforms that directly address those challenges with features like AI-powered intake, real-time dashboards, and reporting.
2. Assess Usability & Configurability
Legal teams shouldn’t need IT to build or adjust workflows. A strong platform will offer no-code tools that allow legal ops teams and lawyers to tailor processes to their needs quickly and without technical expertise. This flexibility is key for growing teams with evolving requirements.
3. Ensure Integration Capabilities
The best legal automation platforms connect seamlessly with the systems your team and the broader business already use such as Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Slack, DocuSign, CLM tools, and more. This ensures that legal doesn’t become a siloed environment where manual updates are still required.
Key Takeaways
Legal automation platforms help in-house legal teams streamline intake, automate workflows, and surface real-time insights, all in one place. The most effective platforms offer AI-powered intake and triage, no-code configurability, and seamless integrations with communication, CLM, CRM, and matter management tools.
By improving visibility, efficiency, and collaboration, legal automation software empowers legal teams to scale operations and demonstrate strategic value to the business.
Still waiting? That’s hours of busywork you could’ve already automated.
Book a demo today to see how Checkbox’s legal automation platform helps streamline operations with AI, integrations, and no-code tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between legal automation tools and legal practice management software?
Legal automation tools focus on streamlining workflows, intake, and self-service across legal operations, often leveraging AI and no-code configurability. Legal practice management software is typically geared toward law firms and focuses more on case tracking, billing, and calendaring.
Is legal automation only relevant for large corporate legal departments?
No, mid-sized and high-growth legal teams benefit significantly from automation by scaling support, improving efficiency, and managing growing demand without increasing headcount. Legal automation is essential for any team looking to do more with less.
How do legal automation platforms support cross-functional collaboration outside the legal team?
They enable structured intake, guided self-service, and real-time status tracking, making it easier for business teams to engage with legal without delays or confusion. This reduces back-and-forth and improves alignment across departments.
What role does AI play in modern legal automation platforms?
AI enhances intake and triage by automatically categorizing and routing legal requests, improving speed and accuracy. It also helps surface insights and streamline routine processes, allowing legal teams to focus on higher-value work.
What questions should we ask during a legal automation platform demo or trial?
Ask about configurability (can legal build and update workflows without IT?), integration capabilities, reporting features, and scalability across use cases. Also, clarify onboarding support and how the platform evolves as your needs change.
How can legal teams future-proof their operations with the right automation platform?
By choosing a flexible, scalable platform that supports no-code automation, cross-functional collaboration, and actionable insights, legal teams can adapt quickly as business needs evolve. This ensures they remain efficient, aligned, and impactful long term.
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