5 In-House Legal Software Every Law Firm Should Use

Types of Software In-House Legal Teams Need

An efficient in-house legal team is one that takes advantage of technology. Below are some of the best legal tech tools that make way for smoother, faster, and more cost-effective legal operations.

1. Document Generation Tools

Creating legal documents is a staple task for any legal team, but it often consumes too much time and resources when done manually.

Document generation tools automate this process and allow faster creation of legal documents from pre-set templates. This speeds up the document creation process and significantly reduces the possibility of human error, which helps uphold consistency across all documents.

Such tools can produce everything from routine correspondence to complex legal agreements, all while ensuring compliance with the latest legal standards.

Top Pick: Briefpoint

Briefpoint.ai uses generative artificial intelligence to help legal teams draft discovery response and request documents in minutes. This platform lets you upload your discovery document, insert objections or responses, then finish up the document in Word.

The process is easy, even for people with limited technical skills, and it frees up attorneys to focus on other valuable tasks like consulting with outside counsel or preparing litigation strategies. Plus, the time saved often translates to more money saved as well.

2. Contract Management Software

Contract management software provides a comprehensive solution for handling every aspect of the contract lifecycle, from initial drafting and negotiation to approval, execution, and contract renewals.

This type of software often includes features for automatic reminders of key dates and milestones, version control to track changes over time, and secure storage for easy retrieval.

In essence, legal departments can avoid expensive oversights and improve their overall efficiency by letting software manage contracts for them.

Top Pick: Ironclad

Ironclad is a must-have for any legal department that needs to handle everything contract-related. It smooths out the whole process, from start to finish, with some smart automation tricks up its sleeve.

Plus, it has an analytics feature that lets you dive into your contract data and figure out what’s working and what’s not. Basically, it makes managing contracts a whole lot easier and helps you make smarter decisions with all the insights it provides.

3. Document Management Systems

Legal operations always go hand in hand with a ton of paperwork, which is why any in-house counsel can benefit from a good document management tool.

Document management systems allow for quick retrieval, controlled access, and efficient collaboration on documents and make sure that everything is both safe and easily accessible. 

Legal leaders can also control who sees what, track changes, and even collaborate on documents without creating a dozen versions.

Top Pick: NetDocuments

NetDocuments is a cloud-based document management system designed specifically for legal teams. It offers secure storage, easy access from anywhere, and robust tools for collaboration and document handling.

It’s known for top-notch security features and compliance with international standards, which makes it a safe bet for managing sensitive legal matters.

4. Matter Management Software

Matter management software is a one-stop shop for legal teams to keep their cases and projects in line. It pulls together all the bits and pieces related to a case—documents, emails, deadlines, and more—into one spot that’s easily accessible.

It makes task management and legal workflows much easier by automating tasks, keeping an eye on those critical deadlines, and making sure everyone on the team is in the loop. 

As a result of the extra operational efficiency, in-house legal teams have more time to work on more complicated legal work.

Top Pick: Clio

Clio is a comprehensive, cloud-based legal practice management platform that’s really made a name for itself in the legal world for being able to streamline processes for law firms of all sizes.

With Clio, you can manage cases, track time, bill clients, and organize all your legal documents in one place. It also has excellent features for client communication and scheduling, which makes it easier to keep everyone informed and on track.

5. Legal Billing Tools

Efficient and accurate billing is a must if a law firm wants to remain profitable.

Legal billing tools are specialized software solutions designed to simplify the billing and invoicing process for law firms and legal departments. These tools help make sure you accurately track billable hours, manage client accounts, and produce detailed invoices without issue.

One of the key features of legal billing software is time tracking. Whether you’re working on a case, consulting with a client, or doing research, these tools make it easy to record every billable minute. 

Also, they often come with functionalities to handle expense tracking and generate reports that can help guide business decisions.

Top Pick: QuickBooks

Lawyers can leverage QuickBooks to track billable hours directly within the software, maintain accurate invoicing, and simplify the process of billing clients. The platform also allows for the management of client trust accounts, a critical aspect of legal financial management.

Additionally, QuickBooks helps law firms with general accounting tasks, such as tracking expenses, managing payroll, and producing financial reports. These features provide a clear overview of a firm’s financial health, which often leads to data-driven decisions.

Supplement Your In-House Legal Team With Briefpoint

Discovery responses cost firms $23,240, per year, per attorney. $23,240 estimate assumes an associate attorney salary of $150,000 (including benefits – or $83 an hour), 20 cases per year/per associate, 4 discovery sets per case, 30 questions per set, 3.5 hours spent responding to each set, and 1800 hours of billable hours per year.

Under these assumptions, you save $20,477 using Briefpoint, per year, per attorney.

Test Briefpoint yourself by scheduling a demo here.