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Today’s in-house corporate legal teams face significant challenges. From navigating disorganized workflows and managing countless requests to a lack of visibility into key metrics, the pressure can be overwhelming. Lawyers often begin their day buried in emails and Slack messages, unsure where to focus their attention. The result? Stress, inefficiency, and burnout — a reality for 97% of legal professionals.
Operational efficiency has become the top strategic priority for chief legal officers (CLOs), but without proper tools, achieving this goal feels impossible. General counsel (GCs) have no way to track work allocation, transactions, or spending. So, when it’s time to request additional resources — like hiring more lawyers or purchasing new tools — 50% of GCs don’t have the data to prove their case to the CFO.
In other words, modern legal operations are chaotic.
This is where in-house legal matter management software comes into play — offering a transformative solution for managing legal requests, tracking progress, and driving impactful insights. 82% of CLOs report increasing workloads and 40% of CLOs cite operational efficiency as their top priority, yet only 36% of legal teams currently use matter management tools, missing a vital opportunity to streamline operations, boost transparency, and empower data-driven decisions.
At its core, a legal matter refers to any issue requiring legal involvement. Matters can range from contracts, lawsuits, and vendor requests to due diligence for mergers and acquisitions. For corporate legal departments, most matters are requests that come from other departments inside the business. Unlike law firms, which view matters as billable units, in-house legal teams see them as the day-to-day tasks that ensure operational continuity.
The goal of in-house legal matter management is operational efficiency. Compared with case management in a law firm, which tracks the micro details of a legal case from discovery to verdict, matter management focuses on the macro-level business processes that facilitate the movement of legal requests within the organization.
To understand matter management for in-house legal teams, it can be helpful to consider some of the differences from traditional legal firm matter management. See the table below for a comparison of matters that an in-house team may focus on compared to those outside counsel handles.
Want a more careful examination of how to define matter management for in-house corporate legal teams? We go a bit deeper here.
Matter management software is the centralized legal workspace used by busy and growing corporate in-house legal teams and legal operations professionals to process legal matters.
Legal requests can come from just about any part of the organization and can involve a wide variety of corporate legal considerations, including policy, compliance, security, business opportunity, and much more. Matter management software enables the legal team to process incoming legal matters and requests efficiently by organizing and tracking any related documents, tasks, deadlines, and communication.
Sophisticated matter management software platforms can become a central intake hub and a real-time source of truth, fostering collaboration and ensuring legal teams maintain visibility and efficiency across all activities.
Matter management software is also commonly referred to as an Enterprise Legal Management (ELM) solution, a category that can include other types of software that focus more narrowly on specific types of legal matters, such as:
In contrast, matter management software is designed for the unique needs of in-house legal teams and encompasses a wide range of activities, going beyond handling contracts, external matters, and litigation.
Corporate legal departments often find themselves in a reactive, firefighting mode. Without the right systems, even the most skilled lawyers can find their efforts hampered by inefficiencies and a lack of clarity. Let’s break down the challenges that in-house teams face when matter management is absent or suboptimal:
Many in-house legal teams are forced to rely on tools like JIRA, Asana, or Monday.com — platforms that are not built with legal workflows in mind. While these tools are useful for generic project management, they require significant customization to handle the unique needs of legal operations.
These patchwork systems require constant manual intervention, slowing down processes instead of speeding them up. Approvals take longer than they should. Critical documents are stored across multiple platforms, making it difficult to find what you need when you need it. The inefficiency is frustrating for the legal team and a bottleneck for the entire organization, which can delay business decisions and create friction between departments.
Imagine this: Your legal team starts each day wading through a flood of emails, Slack messages, and ad-hoc verbal requests from colleagues across the company. A single lawyer might juggle 10-30 or more distinct legal requests in a week, ranging from contract reviews to compliance queries. With no centralized location to organize and prioritize tasks, the team must rely on memory, personal notes, and scattered spreadsheets.
This chaos creates an environment where nothing feels under control. Matters slip through the cracks, deadlines are missed, and frustration mounts. Team members spend as much time figuring out what to do next as they do actually working on the tasks themselves. It’s a cycle that saps productivity and morale, leaving the legal department perpetually scrambling to catch up.
The constant state of disarray has a human cost. Lawyers are left to shoulder an overwhelming and ambiguous burden without clear visibility into workloads or processes. They’re working long hours, but their contributions often go unrecognized by the rest of the organization, or worse, Legal gets labeled as a blocker or the deal prevention team.
Burnout is about more than exhaustion; it creates a sense of futility because lawyers are unable to see the impact of their work. In-house counsel can feel like they’re on a hamster wheel, spinning endlessly but never gaining traction. This leads to high turnover rates, which only exacerbates the workload for those who remain.
One of the most significant drawbacks of working without matter management software is the lack of actionable data. When requests and tasks are scattered across emails and spreadsheets, there’s no easy way to track key metrics such as workload distribution, request volume, or turnaround times.
This lack of visibility leaves GCs and senior lawyers in the dark. They can’t pinpoint where their team’s time is going or identify areas for improvement. It also weakens their ability to advocate for additional resources or strategic initiatives. For example, approaching the CFO to request more budget without concrete data to support the ask is a losing battle. The inability to quantify the team’s impact perpetuates the perception of the legal department as a “black box” rather than a value-driving partner within the organization.
Does this resonate with you? If so, it’s time to explore how matter management software can help.
Legal teams can escape the chaos, alleviate burnout, and reclaim control over their workflows by investing in matter management software. Beyond improving efficiency, better matter management empowers your team to work smarter, advocate for their needs with data, and build stronger partnerships across the business.
Let’s review some specific ways legal matter management software supports in-house teams.
Legal teams often get bogged down by manual processes, such as triaging email requests or updating spreadsheets. Matter management systems eliminate these inefficiencies by automating intake, tracking workflows, and streamlining approvals.
This boost in efficiency has a tangible impact. Here are a few examples:
These time savings free up valuable resources, allowing legal teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than administrative tasks. Teams can handle larger workloads without increasing headcount, which provides more value to the business.
In the absence of a transparent system, legal teams can feel like a “black box” — requests go in, but it’s unclear what happens next. This lack of visibility frustrates both the legal team and the business stakeholders who rely on their support.
Matter management software provides a centralized platform where every request is tracked from start to finish. Managers gain complete visibility into workloads, ensuring tasks are appropriately assigned and deadlines are met. On the other hand, stakeholders have less uncertainty and more trust in the legal team because they can see the status of their requests in real time.
Effective legal operations require seamless communication between the legal team and other departments. But for many in-house legal teams, collaboration happens through disjointed channels like email, Slack, and shared drives, leading to confusion and miscommunication.
Matter management software brings all collaboration into one place. Comments, documents, and updates are consolidated within each matter, ensuring that everyone involved is on the same page. This makes it easier for team members to collaborate internally and for stakeholders to provide necessary input without duplicating efforts.
When the legal team operates efficiently and transparently, the entire organization benefits. Stakeholders from HR, sales, marketing, procurement, and beyond can easily submit requests, track progress, and understand the outcomes of their interactions with legal.
This improved communication enhances satisfaction and strengthens the legal department’s reputation within the company. By demonstrating their impact clearly and consistently, legal teams earn trust and credibility with senior leadership and other departments.
Data is the key to making informed decisions, and matter management software provides the metrics and analytics needed to guide legal operations. Teams can track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as request volumes, turnaround times, and workload distribution.
For example, 8x8 used the analytics in its matter management software to identify delays caused by outside counsel. Armed with this data, the Deputy GC was able to address inefficiencies in billing practices and improve overall performance. Metrics like these enable legal leaders to identify bottlenecks, allocate resources more effectively, and confidently plan for the future.
Many legal departments struggle to quantify their contributions to the organization, making it difficult to secure additional resources or assert a strategic role. Matter management software helps solve this problem by providing concrete data that illustrates the team’s impact.
With robust reporting capabilities, legal teams can showcase how they’ve optimized workflows, reduced turnaround times, and mitigated risks. This evidence strengthens their case when requesting budget increases, hiring approvals, or investments in additional technology.
Staying compliant with regulatory requirements is critical, particularly for highly regulated industries. Matter management systems help legal teams maintain compliance by enabling automated workflows and reminders to ensure in-house counsel don’t miss key contract renewals and regulatory filings. Secure document storage ensures that sensitive information is protected and easily retrievable during audits or legal disputes. Additionally, comprehensive tracking and reporting allow teams to identify and proactively address potential risks early.
Many corporate legal departments face a turnover crisis due to budget cuts and high workloads. Knowledge gaps following a lawyer’s departure can disrupt operations and increase risk for the organization. Matter management software creates a single repository for all matters where any team member can quickly access the necessary context and continue the work without delays.
If you want to transform your team’s matter management, selecting the right software is critical. Focus on a solution that seamlessly integrates with your workflows, streamlines legal collaboration, and drives efficiency. Here’s a closer look at three important factors to consider before choosing a platform and the features to prioritize.
Your matter management solution will serve as the primary interface between your legal team and the rest of the organization. Its usability will determine how quickly and effectively it is adopted. An intuitive, user-friendly design allows all stakeholders to interact with the platform confidently, regardless of technical expertise.
A tool that requires minimal training empowers legal teams and business users to hit the ground running. This reduces dependency on IT, enabling legal departments to maintain control of their operations. Additionally, a user-friendly system encourages adoption across the organization, ensuring smoother collaboration and stronger partnerships with business stakeholders.
Why this matters: If the interface is cumbersome or confusing, adoption rates will falter, and the tool may create more inefficiency than it resolves.
Automation is one of the most impactful features of a comprehensive matter management solution, but not all tools offer the same level of adaptability. Your software should complement and enhance your existing workflows, not force you to overhaul them.
Look for configurable solutions that can be tailored to your team’s specific needs. Automation should handle intake, triage, and routine tasks with precision to free up valuable time for higher-priority work.
Why this matters: Automation applied to well-optimized processes will unlock operational efficiency instead of magnifying bottlenecks.
As your organization evolves, your matter management system should be flexible enough to accommodate changing priorities and increasing complexity. A few specific factors to evaluate scalability include:
Why this matters: If the solution you choose doesn’t grow with you, you’ll have to go through the procurement process again sooner rather than later.
When evaluating potential solutions, focus on platforms that offer the following core features:
Investing in matter management software is a strategic decision, but proving its value is essential. Here’s how to measure the return on investment (ROI):
While all software solutions involve costs, they should deliver measurable value that offsets those expenses. Start by calculating the cost of managing matters without a dedicated tool. Costs include salaries, time spent, and inefficiencies from manual processes.
Use these metrics and KPIs to assess ROI:
For example, reducing turnaround times might free up enough capacity to handle additional requests without hiring more staff, effectively turning efficiency into tangible cost savings.
Legal teams can justify their investments with these insights and demonstrate strategic impact.
Not all matter management tools are created equal. Here’s a comparison of common options:
Platforms like JIRA, Asana, and Monday are versatile but not designed for legal workflows. Building custom workflows for legal operations often requires heavy reliance on technical teams, creating inefficiencies and wasting time.
Many tools marketed as matter management solutions fall short:
Streamline AI’s Matter Management solution stands out for its hyper-focus on in-house corporate legal teams. Unlike one-size-fits-all solutions, Streamline AI is purpose-built as a mission-control enterprise legal platform for GCs to eliminate chaos and drive operational efficiency. Key differentiators include:
By prioritizing operational efficiency, Streamline AI delivers unmatched value for legal teams.
In-house legal matter management software is no longer optional for modern corporate legal departments. With the right solution, you can transform chaotic workflows into streamlined operations, empowering your team with transparency, collaboration, and data-driven insights.
Ready to take the next step? Explore Streamline AI’s features or schedule a demo with our experts today to discover how we can help your team thrive.
Scale your legal team's efficiency and effectiveness with modern workflow automation tools designed for in-house legal.
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