Guide to Legal Department Software
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In large organizations, legal departments sit at the intersection of risk, regulation, and relentless demand. With thousands of employees across multiple business units, requests flood in from every direction: contracts to review, issues to assess, decisions to guide.
And as legal departments continue to grow in size and scope, the need for structured, scalable request tracking becomes more and more important.
Let’s examine the systems legal teams use to track legal requests effectively, the features that matter most at the enterprise level, and how platforms like Checkbox are helping legal operate with greater clarity, control, and impact.
Features Enterprise Legal Departments Should Prioritize
Not all legal request tracking tools are built for the complexity and scale of enterprise environments. For large legal departments managing a constant stream of high-stakes, cross-functional work, a request tracking software needs to do more than just capture requests. It needs to support structure, automation, and visibility at scale. Here are the core features enterprise legal teams should look for:
1. AI-Powered Centralized Legal Intake
Legal teams need a single front door for all requests. Configurable intake forms tailored to different request types (e.g., NDAs, contract reviews, compliance inquiries) ensure legal receives the right information upfront, reducing back-and-forth and accelerating time to resolution. Enterprise legal departments are also turning to AI-powered self-service portals, such as legal chatbots embedded in communication tools (i.e. Slack, email, Microsoft Teams), to allow business users to submit requests through chat. These AI legal chatbots ask prompting questions, capture key data, and initiate workflows in real time so that legal can focus on strategic initiatives rather than data collection for thousands of matters.

2. Real-Time Request Status Tracking
Once a request enters the system, both legal and the business should be able to track its status at any time. Real-time visibility into what’s been submitted, what’s in progress, and what’s been completed prevents follow-up emails and gives legal full oversight across all incoming work. Large organizations should look for a platform that provides legal teams with an overview of the status of ongoing matters, as well as real-time tracking links that allow business users to track the progress of their specific matters.
💡Pro Tip: Prioritize platforms that provide real-time tracking links for business users to reduce status updates and improve user satisfaction.
3. Enterprise-Grade Scalability & Security
Given the size and sensitivity of enterprise legal environments, any request tracking tool must be secure, scalable, and compliant with IT requirements and governance standards. Look for tools that are cloud-based, SOC 2 compliant, and able to support thousands of users and requests across business units.
4. Integration with Business & Legal Tools
Legal doesn’t operate in isolation. The ability to integrate with tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Salesforce, and contract management systems ensures seamless collaboration between legal and the business, without forcing users to adopt new workflows.

5. Request Volume & Trends Reporting
Tracking is only valuable if it’s measurable. Enterprise request tracking tools should offer built-in analytics that show request volume over time, common request categories, turnaround times, and team capacity. This data is critical for reporting to leadership and resourcing intelligently.
Related Article: Learn about the top metrics that are commonly tracked in a legal department and how to report on the efficiently.
Top Legal Request Tracking Software Platforms for Enterprise Legal Departments
While many tools offer basic intake or matter management capabilities, only a few are built to meet the scale, security, and visibility needs of large enterprise legal departments. Here are some of the leading platforms in the space and how they compare:
1. Checkbox
Checkbox is a legal-specific software solution built to support legal request tracking in complex enterprise environments. It combines AI-powered intake (via chatbot, email, and forms), workflow automation, real-time request tracking, and enterprise-grade reporting, all in a no-code platform. Legal teams can customize intake and triage rules without IT support, provide business users with live request statuses, and access dashboards to track workload and performance across regions, teams, and request types.
2. ServiceNow Legal Service Delivery
ServiceNow is a powerful IT service management platform that offers a legal module designed to route and manage legal requests. While it integrates well with broader enterprise systems, it often requires extensive configuration and dedicated admin support to meet legal-specific needs.
3. Legal Tracker (by Thomson Reuters)
Legal Tracker focuses primarily on matter and spend management, with some request intake functionality. While it’s strong in financial controls and outside counsel management, its intake and triage capabilities are limited and may not offer the flexible routing or self-service portals enterprise legal teams need.
4. Jira (with legal-specific customization)
Originally built for software development teams, Jira can be adapted to track legal requests, but requires significant setup and maintenance. It lacks native legal functionality and isn’t designed for business user intake, which can limit adoption and efficiency.
Key Takeaways
Choosing the right legal request tracking software for enterprise legal departments is about finding a platform that aligns with the scale, complexity, and expectations of your team. Be sure to ask yourself:
- Does it centralize all legal intake channels into one system?
- Can it handle the volume and variety of enterprise legal requests without breaking?
- Is it easy for both legal and the business to use, with minimal training?
- Does it automate triage and routing, so legal isn’t manually assigning work?
- Can it provide real-time tracking and updates for both internal and business users?
- Is it secure, scalable, and compliant with enterprise IT standards (e.g., SOC 2)?
- Does it offer built-in reporting to surface trends, measure performance, and support resource planning?
The best tools will go beyond request capture to drive efficiency, transparency, and strategic value. So, if your legal team is managing thousands of requests across emails, chats, and spreadsheets, it’s time to take control. Checkbox combines AI-powered intake, customizable workflows, and enterprise-grade visibility in a single, streamlined platform.
Book a demo to see how Checkbox transforms request tracking for large legal departments with AI-powered intake, customizable workflows, and enterprise-grade visibility.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which legal request tracking software offers the most comprehensive enterprise features?
Checkbox offers the most comprehensive enterprise features, including AI-powered intake, real-time status tracking, workflow automation, and enterprise-grade security, all in a no-code platform tailored specifically for legal teams.
How does Checkbox improve legal team insights and document tracking?
Checkbox provides real-time dashboards and reporting on request volume, turnaround times, and workload, while also offering full visibility into document status and matter progression across teams.
What makes Checkbox the top choice for complex legal workflows in enterprises?
With no-code capabilities, Checkbox enables legal teams to build and automate complex workflows without IT involvement, ensuring legal can handle high-volume, high-variability requests with speed, structure, and scalability.
Are there any user-reported limitations in popular legal request management tools?
Yes, tools like Jira or ServiceNow require heavy customization, lack legal-specific functionality, or are difficult for business users to adopt, leading to inefficiencies and low engagement for enterprise legal departments.
How does legal request tracking software help reduce email overload?
How does legal request tracking software help reduce email overload?
Can Checkbox integrate with enterprise systems like Salesforce and Microsoft Teams?
Yes, Checkbox integrates with major enterprise systems such as Salesforce, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and document management platforms to streamline request capture and improve collaboration across departments.