Best Legal Matter Management Software for Enterprise Legal Departments

For small teams with only a few lawyers, you may be able to get away with managing legal work informally through emails, spreadsheets, and messages. 

But as the business grows, so does complexity. In-house teams quickly find themselves managing hundreds of legal matters across functions without a reliable way to track intake, ownership, or turnaround times.

And the key to becoming a high-performing enterprise legal team is to build systems that make visibility the default. That’s what legal matter management software is for. Not just to organize your work, but to create a repeatable, scalable process that removes friction and delivers clarity.

Let’s break down and compare the best legal matter management platforms for enterprise legal departments.

Why Enterprise Legal Teams Need Matter Management Software

Enterprise legal departments often find themselves short on time, visibility, and bandwidth. As legal work is cross-functional, high-volume, and fast-paced, traditional tools like spreadsheets and email chains simply can’t be relied on.

Without a centralized system:

• Legal requests gets missed 
• Triage is not based on strategic value or risk
• Reporting is painful and time consuming

When legal lacks the infrastructure to manage and report on work at scale, it’s harder to make resourcing decisions, identify bottlenecks, or demonstrate value to the business.

Matter management software solves this by bringing all legal work into one place. This standardizes intake, improves visibility, and enables better data-driven decision making.

Top Legal Matter Management Software for Enterprise Legal Departments

Not all solutions are built with the needs of complex, high-growth legal departments in mind. Here are some of the leading platforms and how they compare when it comes to scalability, visibility, and operational impact.

1. Checkbox

Checkbox offers AI-powered intake, triage, and matter management software tailored for enterprise legal teams. It consolidates requests from any channel, standardizes intake with smart forms and automation, and provides real-time dashboards for workload and performance. With a single source of truth for all legal work, Checkbox enables teams to scale without sacrificing control or clarity.

Key Strengths:

• AI-driven intake and workflow automation
• Configurable workflows to fit unique team structures 
• Real-time tracking of matters, deadlines, and team performance
• Enterprise-grade reporting and analytics
• Protected data with multi-layer technical and operational controls

2. ServiceNow Legal Service Delivery

ServiceNow offers legal workflows as part of its broader enterprise platform. While powerful in organizations already using it, the legal-specific functionality can be limited and less flexible for teams that need tailored matter workflows or integrations outside the ServiceNow suite.

Key Strengths:

• Integration with other enterprise functions
• Case tracking and task management
• Best suited for IT-led deployments

3. Legal Tracker by Thomson Reuters

Legal Tracker is well-established in the legal operations space, particularly for teams focused on managing external counsel spend. While it offers solid matter tracking capabilities, the user interface can feel dated and configuring workflows often requires vendor support.

Key Strengths:

• Spend and vendor management tools
• Legacy platform with wide adoption
• Integration with Thomson Reuters products

4. Onit Matter Management

Onit offers a modular platform that can be deeply customized to fit enterprise legal teams. However, the level of configuration required can be time and resource intensive, making it a better fit for teams with dedicated Legal Ops and IT support.

Key Strengths:

• Customizable workflows
• Wide range of add-ons and integrations
• Reporting capabilities

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Key Takeaways

Matter management is about building the operational foundation your team needs to deliver faster support to the business and showcase legal’s strategic value.

As you evaluate your options, look for platforms that:

• Centralize intake and triage across all request channels
• Adapt to your team’s unique structure, workflows, and stakeholders
• Deliver real-time visibility into matters, performance, and workload
• Eliminate manual admin and reduce time spent on low-value tasks

Ultimately, the best legal matter management software helps your team work smarter, move faster, and lead with data.

Want to learn more? Book a demo to see how Checkbox gives legal teams the visibility, control, and data they need to manage risk, allocate resources, and report on legal’s impact at scale.