Alternatives to Spreadsheets for Managing Legal Matters for Corporate Legal Teams

Spreadsheets are often the go-to tool for many corporate legal teams.  

But as work scales, they quickly become unmanageable. From version control issues to manual reporting and poor visibility, they create more problems than they solve.

Fortunately, there are better solutions available. Let’s explore the alternatives to spreadsheets that in-house legal departments can use for managing legal matters.

1. Legal Intake & Matter Management Software

Unlike spreadsheets, legal intake and matter management software is purpose-built to handle the complexity and volume of corporate legal work. These platforms centralize incoming requests, automate triage, provide a single source of truth for managing matters, and offer real-time visibility into workload and status.

Checkbox is a leading solution in this category designed specifically for corporate legal departments. With AI-powered intake, no-code workflows, customizable dashboards, and an intuitive interface, Checkbox creates a comprehensive, real-time collaboration platform for all legal work. Teams can track and progress matters from request to resolution, automate repetitive tasks, and generate on-demand reports without wrestling with rows and formulas.

By replacing spreadsheets with a matter management tool like Checkbox, legal teams gain control, reduce turnaround times, and scale their impact with less effort.

2. IT Ticketing Tools Adapted for Legal

Some legal teams turn to IT ticketing systems like ServiceNow or Jira, customizing them to manage legal requests and workflows. These tools offer structured intake, task assignment, and status tracking, which can be useful for teams looking for a more systemized approach than spreadsheets.

However, because they’re built for IT, not legal, these tools often fall short when it comes to legal-specific needs like matter categorization, legal reporting, and nuanced workflows. Customization can be complex and resource-intensive, requiring ongoing support from Legal Ops or IT.

For legal departments with strong operational support, IT ticketing tools may serve as a short-term upgrade from spreadsheets, but they often lack the depth and usability of legal-specific platforms like Checkbox.

3. Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) Tools

CLM tools like Ironclad or DocuSign CLM offer robust solutions for managing contracts from initiation to execution. They’re a clear step up from spreadsheets when it comes to tracking contract statuses, approvals, and obligations.

However, CLM platforms are built for one type of legal work: contracts. While powerful for legal teams focused heavily on contracting, they aren’t designed to handle the full range of legal matters such as litigation, compliance, HR investigations, or internal advice.

If your legal department primarily manages contracts, a CLM tool could be a valuable upgrade. But for broader matter management, a dedicated matter management platform offers the flexibility to handle all matter types.

4. Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) Platforms

ELM platforms like Legal Tracker, Mitratech, and Onit are comprehensive systems that combine matter management, spend tracking, vendor management, and reporting, often used by large, enterprise-scale legal departments.

These platforms offer deep functionality, but with that comes complexity. Implementation can be lengthy, customization often requires consultants, and costs can be high. For mid-sized legal teams, they’re frequently more than what’s needed and harder to maintain without dedicated Legal Ops resources.

While ELMs offer an alternative to spreadsheets, they’re not always the right fit for growing legal departments that need agility, ease of use, and fast time to value. So, ELM platforms are best for long-established, enterprise-sized organizations who have the time and resources to spend on configuration and change management.

5. General Project Management Tools

General-use project management tools like Asana, Trello, and Monday.com are popular across business teams for tracking tasks and collaborating on projects. Some legal teams adopt them as lightweight alternatives to spreadsheets, especially for basic task tracking.

While these tools are easy to use and visually intuitive, they lack legal-specific functionality such as structured intake, matter categorization, audit trails, or reporting tailored to legal performance. Over time, teams may find themselves hacking these platforms to fit legal workflows, leading to inconsistencies and data gaps.

They may offer a short-term improvement over spreadsheets, but for sustainable legal operations, purpose-built platforms like Checkbox provide the structure, visibility, and automation legal teams need for long-term growth.

Key Takeaways

From limited visibility to manual processes, spreadsheets hold teams back from operating efficiently and strategically.

Whether it’s a CLM, an ELM, or a project management tool, there are alternatives to consider. However, it’s important to note that not all are built for the full scope of legal work. Checkbox stands out as a purpose-built legal intake and matter management platform that gives legal teams a single source of truth, automates routine work, and delivers real-time insights.

Ready to move beyond spreadsheets? Book a demo to see how Checkbox can help you streamline legal operations and scale your team’s impact.