What is Litigation Management?

What Is Litigation Management?

Simply put, litigation management is how legal teams organize and control the entire litigation process, from intake to resolution. For corporate legal departments and law firms, it’s a defined system for handling legal disputes, managing risk, and keeping outside counsel accountable.

The goal is simple: make smarter decisions, avoid surprises, and stay aligned with the business.

Effective litigation management typically includes:

• Defining a clear, case-by-case litigation strategy
• Tracking deadlines, filings, and related matters
• Monitoring legal spend and reporting on key metrics
• Coordinating with internal business units
• Managing large volumes of documents and communication
• Using legal tech tools to centralize case data

Without a practical framework in place, litigation tends to get reactive. But when it’s managed well, legal teams can respond faster, control outcomes, and support the company’s bigger goals.

4 Key Elements of Litigation Management

Litigation management works best when it’s built on structure, visibility, and consistency. Whether you’re handling one high-stakes case or dozens of routine matters, the same building blocks apply.

These are the core elements that can help your team stay in control and respond with confidence:

1. Strategy and Early Assessment

Before diving into the details of a case, take a step back and look at the big picture. What’s the real risk here? What outcome are you aiming for? Is this something worth settling early, or fighting all the way through?

Your overarching goal at this stage is to make informed decisions that shape everything that follows, and a strong early assessment sets the tone. It keeps you aligned with your internal stakeholders, avoids wasted time, and gives you a clear path forward.

As you assess the case, consider:

• How strong the facts and claims actually are
• Which business units need to be looped in early
• How much time and budget the matter might demand
• What a win (or loss) means for the company

A comprehensive approach up front saves time later. It helps you stay focused, communicate clearly, and build a litigation strategy that works for the case and for the business.

2. Budgeting and Outside Counsel Management

Tracking invoices alone doesn’t give you the full picture. You need to know how your resources are being used and whether the outcomes justify the spend. 

Setting billing guidelines, defining project phases, and agreeing on scope early all help keep legal fees under control and aligned with your goals.

Regular check-ins with outside counsel are essential. They keep work focused and give you insight into what’s progressing and where adjustments may be needed. When you head into settlement negotiations, having that level of visibility puts you in a stronger position.

Tying budget to results helps you make smarter calls. It also creates accountability and gives you more leverage to reduce costs without sacrificing quality or strategy.

3. Document Automation and Workflow Tools

When you’re managing large volumes of filings, responses, and discovery documents, doing everything manually slows you down and increases risk.

In contrast, automation lets you move faster without losing accuracy. It doesn’t replace your unique skill as an attorney. Rather, it gives you more time to apply it where it matters.

Document automation tools help you:

• Draft discovery responses and requests quickly
• Maintain formatting and language consistency across matters
• Track due dates and document versions
• Stay organized when collaborating with internal teams and outside counsel

This kind of legal technology is especially useful during high-volume phases like discovery or just before trial, when time is tight and errors are costly. 

Tools like Briefpoint make it easier to generate polished, objection-ready documents in minutes, which ultimately frees you up to focus on strategy.

For attorneys aiming to scale their impact and improve day-to-day workflows, legal automation offers more than speed. It creates room for deeper focus, fewer errors, and long-term success without the constant drain of repetitive work.

4. Reporting and Metrics

Improvement starts with visibility. When you track key metrics, like average case duration, spend by matter type, or case outcomes, you get real insight into how your litigation efforts are performing.

That understanding gives you the ability to make smarter strategic decisions, justify your legal bill, and show how your team adds value.

Good reporting also supports transparency across departments and builds credibility with leadership and clients. It turns legal data into something actionable, not just numbers on a spreadsheet.

For example, after a major post-trial outcome, reviewing timelines, costs, and firm performance can help you understand what went well and what needs to change. This feedback loop helps improve future services and reduce risk across the board.

Win Back Time and Control During the Litigation Process With Briefpoint

You already have enough to manage, discovery shouldn’t slow you down. Drafting objections, keeping formatting consistent, and managing deadlines take up hours you could be spending on higher-value work.

Briefpoint takes care of the repetitive parts. It automates discovery drafts so you can move faster without sacrificing accuracy. Upload your document, choose your objections, and download a clean, court-ready file in minutes.

If your team is managing a growing caseload and limited resources, this gives you room to focus where it counts.

Book a Briefpoint demo and see how much smoother your discovery process can run.