Is It Time to Adopt Legal Automation?

Legal automation simply means using technology to accomplish tasks with minimal human intervention. Usually, automated workflows handle tasks that take up too much time, are repetitive, and don’t necessarily need a lot of input from legal professionals.

But as promising as automation technology is, there is still a lot of due diligence you have to do before implementing it into your practice.

So, let’s take a closer look at what legal automation is, how it works, how it can benefit you as a legal professional, and some legal automation FAQs every professional should know.

What Does Legal Automation Mean?

The simple definition of automation is the use of technology or machines to perform tasks without much human intervention.

In the legal industry, legal automation or legal workflow automation means using technology and software to tackle the repetitive, everyday tasks that lawyers traditionally spend hours on.

In the past, law firms and in-house legal teams used manual, isolated processes to handle daily workflows. This often meant staff were bogged down with tedious administrative duties.

Legal automation changes this by increasing efficiency, reducing errors, and freeing up time for legal professionals to focus on more complex, valuable work. Let’s dive deeper into that.

What Legal Processes Can You Automate?

Contrary to popular belief (among legal professionals, at least), many legal tasks are subject to automation. Some might argue that legal workflows are too complex to simplify with machines, but today’s legal tech begs to differ.

Here’s a closer look at key legal processes that can be automated:

Contract Review and Management

Contracts are crucial, but managing them can be incredibly time-consuming.

Automation tools help legal departments by using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) to scan contracts for key clauses, compliance gaps, and potential risks.

These systems can recognize legal language patterns, flag anomalies, and even suggest redlines based on pre-trained legal models or custom clause libraries. Some tools can also help you generate contracts and save you from manually drafting all your important agreements.

Version control is another major benefit. These tools maintain audit trails and track every edit across stakeholders, which helps make sure everyone is reviewing the same draft.

On top of that, workflow automation accelerates the approval process. Tools integrate with collaboration platforms and document management systems. This allows for automated routing, deadline tracking, and role-based approvals.

All this reduces the endless back-and-forth with different teams, shortens review cycles, and improves turnaround time for each contract.

Legal Document Drafting

Historically, drafting legal documents is a tedious process that requires keen attention to detail and at least a few hours spent creating, editing, and reviewing each document.

This is now changing thanks to legal document automation tools that create documents with the same accuracy and consistency as manually created ones, if not better. Most legal document automation tools use a combination of artificial intelligence (AI) and templates to speed up the drafting process.

For example, Briefpoint is a generative AI and machine learning tool that drafts discovery responses by analyzing a request document, generating a draft that is mostly complete, and letting you finish up by adding pre-loaded objections or responses.

Book a demo to see it in action!

Billing Management

Automated systems can track billable hours and generate invoices based on those hours and predefined rates.

More specifically, they help streamline manual processes by logging time entries automatically, applying correct billing codes, and reducing the need for repetitive, time-consuming tasks.

These systems also monitor payments and send reminders for overdue invoices, which helps simplify the entire billing workflow and make sure you don’t miss out on any billable time.

This leads to better cash flow for your legal team and less financial stress. Plus, you get a bird’s eye view of how your time is being spent and whether that time is actually generating value.

Routine Tasks

Administrative tasks, though necessary, can take up a lot of your time. Luckily, modern tech now allows you to create automated workflows for manual processes that otherwise take too much time, money, and brain power.

For example, you can easily automate the following routine or manual tasks:

Data entry
Scheduling
Sending appointment reminders
Client intake forms
Populating client databases
Data entry
Email management
Organizing and filing documents
Task management
Sending task reminders and notifications
Tracking billable hours
Generating and sending invoices
Monitoring payments and sending reminders
Sharing documents securely
Automatic time tracking
Sending follow-up emails and updates
Creating regular reports

Legal Research

Legal research can be a bottleneck because it often involves combing through mountains of complex legal texts, cases, and statutes, all demanding meticulous attention to detail and absolute precision.

However, skipping this step isn’t an option for your legal department.

Powered by natural language processing and AI-driven knowledge management systems, legal automation tools can search through massive databases of statutes, case law, and legal commentary in seconds.

Essentially, they identify relevant passages, extract key legal principles, and surface insights far faster than manual review.

Many of these platforms also act as intelligent legal assistants that can offer case summaries, highlight jurisdiction-specific nuances, and even provide real-time suggestions for similar precedents.

Some go further by integrating with your internal document management systems to connect prior research and outcomes to new matters. On top of that, these tools constantly monitor updates across legal databases, so you’re always working with the most current legal information.

Why is Legal Automation Important For Law Firms?

Automation is a hotly debated topic in the legal field, and not without reason. There are many concerns about the validity of AI-generated work, and many lawyers are hesitant to automate something they can already do themselves.

There’s also a notion that the law is too complex to throw technology into the mix, but legal automation technology is proving otherwise.

If you’re still on the fence about automating, here are some benefits that might convince you to make the switch:

Increased Efficiency in Task Management

The legal profession runs on precision, but too often, time is lost on tasks that don’t need legal judgment.

Legal automation tools are designed to eliminate that drag. You can automate task assignments, generate automated legal documents from structured templates, and sync calendars without human oversight.

For example, a legal team handling vendor contracts can use automation to populate agreements with pre-approved language based on contract type and jurisdiction.

The benefits of legal automation aren’t just about speed; they’re about freeing your team from busywork that drains focus. The more consistent your workflows, the more room your team has to do the work that actually requires expertise.

Cost Savings in Daily Operations

Automation significantly lowers operational costs by reducing dependency on manual processes.

Fewer administrative hours are billed, freeing up resources for client-related work and business growth, which improves the firm’s bottom line.

Improved Accuracy and Reduced Errors

Repetitive tasks increase the chance of mistakes like missed deadlines, incorrect clauses, and outdated language. These aren’t just minor issues. They can stall deals or create compliance risks. That’s where implementing automation makes a real impact.

A lot of legal automation refers to completing tasks with precision, every time. When you automate document creation using up-to-date templates, for example, you remove the variability that comes with manual editing.

Every contract, NDA, or policy document follows a vetted structure, which helps reduce the chance of inconsistencies or outdated language slipping through.

Take clause insertion: instead of copying text from older documents, automated systems pull approved language based on contract type, jurisdiction, and even client preferences. This streamlines processes while also improving the quality of what’s delivered.

Ensuring Compliance with Legal Standards

Automation tools help maintain compliance with industry standards and regulations. Automated checks and audits make sure all processes meet the latest legal requirements, which cuts down on the risk of non-compliance.

Better Client Service

Automating admin-heavy tasks not only speeds things up but also improves the overall client experience by making your team more responsive and reliable.

Service delivery becomes more consistent, and clients notice the difference. You’re not scrambling to send updates or manually schedule meetings. Those things are handled in the background while you stay focused on the work that matters.

Client-specific tasks you can automate include:

Client intake
Scheduling meetings
Billing and invoicing
Document sharing
Client updates and follow-ups

Simplified and Organized Workflow

Automation creates a more organized workflow for legal matters. Automated task management and scheduling make sure deadlines are met and nothing falls through the cracks, which helps lead to a more productive and efficient team.

Scalability for Growing Practices

As your practice grows, automation allows you to handle more cases and clients without needing to hire a lot more staff. This means you can expand without compromising on quality or efficiency.

Increased Job Satisfaction

Repetitive tasks can often detract from the more fulfilling aspects of legal work. Automation helps by handling these routine responsibilities, which allows legal professionals to dedicate their time to more meaningful and intellectually stimulating tasks.

This shift not only improves job satisfaction but also helps reduce burnout and turnover, which can help foster a more motivated and productive team.

Data-Driven Insights

Many automation tools come with analytics and reporting features that offer valuable insights into your legal operations. Such insights can help you make informed decisions, optimize processes, and save time on research.

Signs That You Need Legal Automation Software

If you’re wondering whether it’s time to invest in legal automation software, here are some signs to look out for:

1. High Volume of Routine Tasks

When your team is buried under administrative duties more than actual legal work, it’s a clear sign that you need automation.

Tasks like scheduling, data entry, and document management can be automated, freeing up your team to focus on more important work.

2. Frequent Errors

Mistakes in documents, billing, or data entry are becoming common. Human error is inevitable, especially with repetitive tasks. Automation can significantly reduce these errors by ensuring consistency and accuracy in every process.

This not only improves the quality of your work but also builds trust with your clients, who rely on your precision and expertise.

3. Slow Turnaround Times

Struggling to meet deadlines and having clients wait longer than they should for responses and results is a red flag. Automation can speed up processes like document drafting, contract review, and legal research, so you deliver timely and efficient service.

Faster turnaround times mean happier clients and a more productive team!

4. Increasing Operational Costs

If your expenses are climbing due to inefficiencies and the need for more administrative staff, it’s time to consider automation.

Automating routine tasks can reduce operational costs by minimizing the need for additional administrative support. This allows you to allocate resources more effectively and invest in areas that drive growth and client satisfaction.

5. Employee Burnout

Overworked staff dealing with repetitive tasks can lead to burnout. In turn, this can easily lead to lower productivity and increasing turnover rates (instead of efficiency gains).

Automation can alleviate this burden by handling mundane tasks, allowing your team to focus on more challenging and rewarding work.

6. Manual Data Management

Spending too much time managing and organizing files and data manually can be a major productivity drain.

Automation can streamline data management by organizing and storing information efficiently, making it easily accessible when needed.

Automate the Most Tedious Part of Litigation

Discovery responses are often one of the most time-consuming parts of litigation, but Briefpoint changes that by automating this tedious process. With this AI-powered platform, you can save hours on manual work, cut down on costs, and deliver accurate results every time.

Briefpoint is incredibly easy to use. Just upload your document, and Briefpoint’s machine-learning system will extract as much information as it can to fill out the routine stuff in your draft. Then, you can add objections to each request or interrogatory by selecting from a built-in menu.

There’s also Briefpoint Bridge, a feature that helps you collect client responses and plug them into your document with no back-and-forth necessary.

With more time to focus on strategy and client advocacy, you can handle litigation more efficiently and effectively.

Curious about how it can fit into your practice? Schedule a demo today and see how Briefpoint simplifies discovery!

FAQs About Legal Automation

What is automation in law?

Automation in law refers to the use of technology (often powered by artificial intelligence) to handle legal tasks that traditionally required manual input. This includes things like document review, obligation management, inquiry handling, and even basic legal research. Many legal teams now rely on automation platforms to improve turnaround time and maintain consistency across routine legal services.

What are the 4 types of automation?

The four common types of automation used in the legal field are:

Document automation – for tasks like contract generation or managing standard agreements.
Workflow automation – to streamline steps in legal processes, such as approvals or escalations.
Communication automation – for internal clients or external stakeholders, often used in inquiry response or scheduling.
Data automation – to sync and organize information across existing systems, ensuring accuracy in reporting and filings.

What is an example of document automation?

A common example is contract generation: in-house lawyers can create a legally compliant agreement by answering a few questions through an automation tool. The system pulls from up-to-date templates and approved clause libraries to assemble the final document. This replaces the need to draft contracts manually, which helps manage documents more efficiently and reduces errors.

What is an example of process automation?

An example would be automating the intake and triage of legal requests from internal clients. Instead of manually sorting and assigning tasks, automated processes categorize requests (e.g., business deals, compliance issues) and route them to the right team member. This gives law departments a competitive edge by reducing delays and freeing up time for more complex legal matters, something they rarely teach in law school.

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Make RFP Automation Work for Your Business

An RFP, or request for proposal, is a formal document companies use when they’re searching for vendors or partners. It outlines what they need, and it’s up to you to respond with a clear, detailed plan showing how you’ll meet those needs.

Sounds simple, right? But anyone who’s actually gone through the process knows it’s anything but. Manually responding to RFPs can be a time sink.

You end up digging through folders, copying answers from old files, double-checking facts, and chasing down teammates for input. And that’s before you even start formatting the final proposal.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not doing anything wrong; it’s just the way most teams handle it. That’s exactly why more businesses are turning to RFP automation and why you might want to, too.

What is RFP Automation?

RFP automation is the use of software to speed up and simplify the RFP response process. Instead of building each proposal from scratch, automation tools help you reuse your best content, assign tasks to the right people, and manage everything in one organized system.

At its core, RFP automation improves RFP response management by making it easier to find accurate answers, assign work to subject matter experts, and deliver polished proposals on time. These tools can also handle security questionnaires, which are often time-consuming and repetitive.

Many platforms now use natural language processing to suggest the best content based on how a question is worded. That means you’re not just pulling canned replies but also getting tailored responses that sound like they were written for that specific request.

With RFP automation, you can:

Speed up the response process with smart content suggestions
Cut down manual work by generating answers from a shared library
Assign sections to subject matter experts with built-in workflows
Improve consistency with approved, accurate answers
Handle security questionnaires without last-minute stress

What Is RFP Automation Software?

RFP automation software is a tool that helps teams respond to proposals faster by organizing content, assigning tasks, and reusing approved answers. It’s built to reduce the manual effort that usually goes into answering the same types of questions over and over.

The software keeps everything in one place, including your responses, team comments, deadlines, and drafts, so you’re not jumping between emails or files to piece things together. It also makes it easier to keep answers accurate and consistent across different proposals.

Some tools even suggest content based on past responses to help you save time when you’re under pressure. With everyone working from the same system, the process runs smoother, and your proposals go out quicker.

How Do You Automate RFP Responses?

Automating the RFP response process doesn’t mean handing everything over to a machine. It means cutting down on repetitive work, so your team can focus on writing strong, thoughtful answers.

With the right system in place, you can respond faster and reduce the stress that usually comes with tight deadlines. Here’s how you can set up a smart and efficient RFP response management process using automation tools:

1. Build a Central Content Library

The first step in automating your RFP response process is setting up a robust content library. This is where you store your previous responses, company facts, product details, and other valuable resources in one organized place.

A good library makes it easy to find the right content quickly, which can help your team deliver accurate responses without wasting time. Some tools use machine learning to suggest the best answer based on the question’s context.

2. Use Natural Language Matching

Modern RFP tools use natural language processing to understand how questions are asked, even if the wording changes. This helps the software suggest the most relevant answers from your library, so you’re always starting from a strong place.

3. Assign the Right People Automatically

One of the smartest things RFP software can do is route each question to the right subject matter expert without you lifting a finger.

Legal questions go straight to legal. Product questions land with your technical team. Everyone gets notified, knows what to work on, and sees their deadlines upfront.

This keeps the entire process moving smoothly and avoids confusion or delays. You don’t have to waste time repeating the same steps or chasing people for input. It also keeps your sales process in sync with your proposal efforts, so nothing falls through.

4. Generate Draft Responses

Let your RFP software take the first pass at answering questions. By pulling from your content library, the tool can generate draft responses that save time and reduce repetitive tasks for your team.

You’re still in control (every answer can be reviewed, edited, and approved), but you’re no longer stuck starting from zero.

This approach helps your sales team focus on strategy and personalization, not copy-paste work. Plus, it makes sure answers stay consistent without pulling random info from external websites or outdated files.

Here’s how it helps:

Creates quick drafts for common RFP questions
Cuts down the time spent on repetitive writing
Allows room for human intervention when needed
Keeps messaging aligned with your brand and voice
Helps your team stay focused on winning business rather than formatting responses

5. Manage Versions and Approvals

Keeping track of edits and approvals can be a mess when everything’s split across emails and shared drives. RFP automation tools fix that by giving your team one place to manage it all.

This means you can track changes, leave comments, and see who approved what, without dealing with five different versions of the same file.

For example, if you’re answering a set of due diligence questionnaires with input from legal, finance, and IT, the software pulls content from your central library and lets each expert review their section. That way, your winning responses include detailed information pulled from multiple sources, and it’s all up to date.

6. Automate Security Questionnaire Responses

Security questionnaires are often packed with detailed questions that tend to repeat across clients and industries. Automation tools help by pulling approved answers from your knowledge sources and previous RFPs, so your team isn’t stuck rewriting the same content.

Answers stay consistent, accurate, and up to date, even when requests come from different teams or departments. You’ll also get real-time notifications when something needs a second look or an updated response.

By cutting down the busywork, you’re speeding up the process and showing that your team is sharp, responsive, and ready to work with serious clients. That kind of professionalism can go a long way in boosting win rates and helping you stand out as an industry leader.

7. Export Final Proposals Fast

After all the reviews are done and the content’s locked in, the last thing you want is to spend hours reformatting everything. With RFP automation, you can export the entire proposal via Word, PDF, or even a custom layout.

If the client asked similar or the same questions as in past RFPs, there’s no need to do extra research or shuffle through Google Drive for old files. Everything’s already been pulled from approved content.

This is a must-have feature for teams that send out a significant number of proposals and want to ensure consistency across every submission.

Why Should You Automate Your RFP Process?

Manual RFP responses can drag down your team’s time, focus, and energy. When you’re answering the same questions again and again or trying to keep up with disorganized reviews, it’s easy to lose momentum.

Automating the process helps you work faster, stay consistent, and respond with confidence. Here’s what you get out of it:

Faster turnaround – Generate responses in minutes by pulling from a shared content library, so your team spends less time starting from scratch.
Consistent, approved content – Use responses that have already been vetted by legal, finance, and subject matter experts.
Fewer errors – Reduce copy-paste slip-ups and outdated answers with automatic suggestions based on current content.
Stronger teamwork – Assign sections, set deadlines, and track progress without relying on endless email threads.
Simpler reviews – Let reviewers edit and approve content in one place, with full visibility into changes and comments.
Organized process – Keep everything in one system, not spread across docs and drives.
Better results – Submit polished, accurate proposals that improve your chances of winning the deal.

Take Advantage Of Automated Document Generation Today

You’ve probably spent more hours than you’d like pulling answers together, cleaning up formatting, and chasing final approvals, only to end up sending the proposal minutes before the deadline. It’s frustrating, and honestly, it pulls your focus away from the work that actually needs your attention.

As you can see, automated document generation helps fix that. You can organize your content, reuse what already works, and produce clean documents without jumping through hoops every single time.

And even if RFPs aren’t your main task, you’re likely still dealing with repetitive forms, client documents, or standard questionnaires.

Briefpoint was built to handle that kind of work. Originally made for legal teams, it simplifies structured document drafting, especially when the content is repetitive and requires input from different people. You don’t need to reinvent anything. Just make your process less painful.

If you’re tired of spinning your wheels on the same kinds of documents, Briefpoint is worth a look.

Try Briefpoint today!

FAQs About RFP Automation

What is RFP automation?

RFP automation refers to the use of software that helps your team respond to proposals faster and with fewer errors. It pulls from your knowledge base, suggests past answers, assigns tasks, and keeps everything organized in one system. The goal is to make the entire process less time-consuming so your team can take on more RFPs without burning out.

What is RFP technology?

RFP technology includes tools and platforms that support the creation, management, and submission of proposals. Some tools even use generative AI to recommend answers based on your previous responses and current questions, helping your team respond quickly while staying accurate.

What is the best RFP software?

The best RFP response software depends on your team size, industry, and workflow. Tools like Loopio, RFPIO, and Responsive are popular for helping teams manage content, track progress, and easily collaborate across departments. Look for features that match your team’s needs and help with things like version control, deadlines, and approval tracking.

What does RFP mean?

RFP stands for Request for Proposal. It’s a document that organizations send out when they’re looking to buy services or multiple products and want vendors to submit bids that meet specific requirements. Responding clearly and with the right data can help your organization stand out and win the deal.