Best Customizable Legal Intake Software & Features to Look For

No two legal teams operate the same way. However, many intake tools force them into rigid workflows or ill-fitting templates. This can increase the risk of missed details, frustrated requesters, and legal teams that are stalled by admin work and software maintenance.

That’s why choosing a tool that allows you to customize your intake process is so important. Your intake software should be able to meet your team’s needs, whether you’re managing contracts, compliance issues, or day-to-day advisory work.

Customizable intake not only streamlines how requests flow into legal, but also gives you the visibility and control needed to demonstrate your team’s impact across the business.

Best Customizable Intake Tools

The best legal intake tools adapt to the unique needs of your legal team rather than forcing you into a one-size-fits-all mold. Customizable intake tools allow you to design workflows around the types of requests you receive most often (i.e. contracts, compliance questions, or general advisory support) so you can triage and respond faster.

What sets customizable tools apart is flexibility without complexity. You should be able to:

• Tailor request forms to capture the right information up front.
• Adjust approval paths and escalation rules as your team evolves.
• Build intake flows that work across multiple business units, not just legal.

No-code platforms like Checkbox are designed with this adaptability in mind, giving legal teams the power to configure intake quickly and with minimal reliance on IT. 

While there are other tools available for legal request management, such as Ironclad, which focuses on contracts, and ServiceNow, which is adapted from IT service management, these aren’t purpose-built for legal intake. Checkbox, on the other hand, was designed specifically to streamline and customize intake for in-house legal teams, making it the leading customizable legal intake software on the market.

Software with Standout Features (Integrations, Analytics, AI Chatbots)

Customizable intake is only the starting point. To truly elevate how legal works with the business, the legal intake software like Checkbox goes beyond forms and workflows by offering features that drive efficiency and visibility.

Integrations

Intake should connect seamlessly with the tools your business already uses, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams, email, or your CLM (i.e. Ironclad), so requesters don’t need to learn a new system and legal can meet the business where it works.

Analytics & Reporting

Real-time dashboards show what matters are coming in, how work is distributed, and where bottlenecks occur. This visibility not only helps manage workload, but also equips legal with data to demonstrate value to leadership.

AI & Legal Chatbots

Intelligent triage, legal AI chatbots, and guided intake reduce back-and-forth by collecting the right details upfront, without the need for lawyer involvement. Some platforms even suggest next steps or auto-route requests, freeing legal to focus on higher-value work.

Intuitive & User-Friendly Options

Legal teams often struggle with adoption when tools feel overly complex or require too much training (both for business requesters and for lawyers themselves).

That’s why user experience matters. The best intake platforms are intuitive, guiding requesters through clear, self-service forms while giving legal teams an easy way to track and manage matters in one place. 

For example, instead of sending yet another email, a salesperson can submit a contract request through Checkbox. The form prompts them to include all the required details (i.e. contract type, counterparties, and key dates) so legal gets the information they need without constant back-and-forth.

With simple, easy-to-navigate interfaces, Checkbox makes intake effortless. This allows for higher adoption across the business, smoother workflows for legal, and the visibility needed to scale impact.

How to Choose the Right Feature Set

With so many options available, it can be tricky to know which intake platform is the right fit. The key is to focus on the features that solve today’s pain points while also giving your team room to grow. Here are a few steps to guide your decision:

1. Start With Your Challenges

Is visibility into workload your biggest gap? Or is it standardizing requests to cut down on back-and-forth? Prioritize solutions that address those issues first.

2. Think Long-Term

Choose software that’s flexible enough to scale as your team evolves, whether you’re expanding headcount, adding new matter types, or supporting more business units.

3. Look for Integrations and Reporting

These features not only streamline intake, but also allow legal to deliver the kind of data-driven insights leadership expects.

By weighing customization, usability, and future scalability, you’ll find the right set of features to transform intake from an administrative bottleneck into a strategic enabler for your legal function.

Ready to see how Checkbox can help customize intake and matter management to fit your legal team’s unique needs? Book a demo today.