Top Solutions for Centralizing Legal Matter Intake From Multiple Channels

For large legal teams, managing intake is about protecting the business. When legal requests come in through a mix of channels, there’s a heightened risk of missing critical issues, mishandling sensitive information, or failing to meet internal SLAs.

Without a centralized way to capture, triage, and track requests at scale, legal teams can’t confidently monitor workloads or effectively prioritize high-risk matters.

To address this, many large legal departments are investing in technology that consolidates intake from all channels into one secure, trackable system. 

Let’s explore what technology solutions exist for large legal teams that need to centralize matter intake from multiple channels and what to consider when choosing the right fit for your organization.

1. Checkbox

Built for Legal Teams That Need Control, Customization, and Visibility

Checkbox is a legal-specific intake and triage platform designed to give large teams a centralized, secure, and scalable way to manage all incoming work.

With Checkbox, requests from Slack, Microsoft Teams, email, and web forms are routed into a single platform. AI-powered intake helps classify and triage matters, while custom workflows ensure the right steps are followed every time. Legal teams can configure processes without relying on IT, enabling them to adapt to business needs without compromising control.

Most importantly, everything is tracked in real time. That means legal leaders get full visibility into matter status, team capacity, and risk exposure, making it easier to prioritize high-impact work and report back to the business.

2. ServiceNow

Enterprise Workflow Tool with Legal Service Delivery Modules

For large enterprises already using ServiceNow across IT, HR, or Finance, extending the platform to Legal can feel like a logical next step. ServiceNow offers legal service delivery modules that help teams route requests, automate workflows, and track matters.

The strength of ServiceNow lies in its ability to standardize processes across the enterprise. Legal can configure intake forms and build custom workflows. However, ServiceNow is not purpose-built for legal meaning configuration often requires IT support or third-party consultants. 

And while it can centralize intake, it may lack the legal-specific features teams need to manage nuanced matters, track legal risk, or report on team performance with the granularity legal leadership expects.

For legal departments that prioritize enterprise alignment and already have ServiceNow in place, it can be a viable option. But for teams seeking legal-first capabilities with faster time to value, platforms like Checkbox may offer a more tailored and flexible solution.

3. Jira Service Management

Strong for Tech-Driven Teams

Jira Service Management (JSM) is often used by engineering, IT, and product teams to manage internal requests and some legal departments have adopted it for intake as well. Its appeal lies in its flexibility, powerful issue tracking, and ability to integrate with developer tools already in use across the business.

Legal teams can configure JSM to accept requests via forms, email, or APIs and route them into custom queues. With enough time and expertise, you can build intake workflows and assign matters to the appropriate legal stakeholders. For legal teams working closely with product or tech teams, this alignment can streamline collaboration.

However, it is important to note that Jira isn’t built specifically for legal. It lacks matter-specific tracking, legal risk classification, and compliance-focused reporting out of the box. Customization often requires Legal Ops or IT resources, and it may not scale well for teams managing a high volume of diverse legal work beyond contract review or IP matters.

4. Ironclad

Contract-Focused Intake for Legal Teams

Ironclad is a contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform that helps legal teams streamline contract creation, negotiation, and execution. For teams with a heavy volume of contract-related intake, Ironclad offers built-in intake forms and workflows that help collect key information upfront and route contracts efficiently through review cycles.

If your intake primarily revolves around contracts (i.e. NDAs, MSAs, renewals, vendor agreements) Ironclad can help standardize and centralize that flow. However, Ironclad’s intake functionality is tightly tied to contract workflows. It’s not designed to handle broader legal matter types like litigation, compliance, regulatory issues, or employment investigations. 

Legal teams looking to consolidate all intake regardless of matter type will likely need to use Ironclad alongside a separate intake and matter management system such as Checkbox.

5. Asana & Monday.com

General-Use Project Management Tools

Asana and Monday.com are widely used project management platforms known for their flexibility and ease of use. Legal teams sometimes turn to these tools to organize intake when looking for a quick, lightweight way to manage requests, especially in organizations where these tools are already used by other departments.

The visual boards and checklists make it easy to see what’s in progress and who’s responsible. For smaller teams with low volume and straightforward needs, these tools can work as a basic intake system.

However, as these tools weren’t built with legal in mind, they lack matter management functionality, compliance controls, risk-based triage, and robust reporting capabilities. As a result, teams often hit a ceiling in visibility, consistency, and scalability, especially when they need to manage sensitive issues, prioritize based on risk, or demonstrate performance to leadership.

Key Takeaways

If your team is looking for a tool that’s purpose-built for legal, Checkbox is the best choice. It balances control, customization, and visibility, with the flexibility to manage intake across all matter types and channels. It also provides legal teams with the power to automate, track, and report on legal work in real time.

Want to learn more? Book a demo to see how Checkbox enhances legal’s ability to safeguard the business, demonstrate its value, and operate with confidence at scale.