Legal Management Software vs Case Management Software

In many industries, there is a co-mingling of terms to describe the same or similar functions. In the in-house legal world, "legal management software," “legal matter management software,” and "case management software" are often used interchangeably. This leads to confusion about their differences and whether one approach is more effective and valuable for in-house legal functions.

What is Legal Management Software?

In the corporate legal department, legal management software provides the foundational platform for the function of work, collaboration, communication, management of vendors, matter management, and so much more.

Work comes from a variety of locations, including internal stakeholders, external vendors and within the legal team itself. Legal management software encompasses the types of work requested, work that is in progress, and being executed within the corporate legal department.

The work, whether completed by the in-house legal team or outsourced to outside counsel, requires engagement, collaboration and proficient software to complete. The overall goal of legal management software is to support the legal team, assist the support function of the legal operations team, and optimize productivity. Throughout the process, work is streamlined to maximize efficiency, provide visibility, and mitigate risk. When all components work cohesively, the legal department can function as a strategic business partner to the enterprise. In some circles, legal management software is also known as enterprise legal management software.

Legal Matter Management Software

There are several components of legal management software including financial management, contract lifecycle management, vendor management, analytics and reporting, and matter management. Legal matter management software includes various stages familiar to the in-house legal team. These stages are likely to include:

• Legal work intake that provides internal stakeholders with the opportunity to submit a request for legal help from the legal team. There is a digital form for the work intake request, or more advanced software includes a self-serve option with AI legal assistants.
• Triage, where someone screens the legal intake request
• Planning a matter to determine who will manage it, the time needed, budget assessment, and the complexity of the issue
• Sourcing the legal work to outside counsel or the in-house legal team
• Management of resources, tasks associated with the matter, collaboration around the matter, and issue management
• Document management and legal hold requests
• Reporting to internal leadership teams using the robust capabilities of the legal matter management platform

Where Does Case Management Software Fit In?

Case management software is distinct from matter management in several ways:

• Case management is typically adopted to manage the high volume of paperwork associated with litigation, while matter management is specific to in-house legal functions.
• Matter management and its supporting tools are more comprehensive, accounting for the diverse activities carried out by an in-house legal team, both internally and externally, rather than just filing and storing case-related documents.
• The customers or clients differ between case management and matter management. For the latter, the clientele can include engagement with both internal business functions and outside counsel.
• On the other hand, case management primarily supports collaboration between in-house counsel and law firms working on specific cases.

The Importance of Effective Matter Management for In-House Legal

Industry data shows that more than 50% of work stays with the in-house legal team. This suggests that productivity, collaboration, cost factors, efficiency, and compliance are top factors when purchasing legal management software. Legal teams still using a patchwork quilt of software applications, experience more challenges to ensure high proficiency, efficiency, collaboration, or cost-saving techniques.

In-house legal departments that utilize the best enterprise legal management software realize an array of benefits that contribute to how workflow and productivity. One primary benefit of legal management software is the integration of contract lifecycle management within the software platform. In addition, those managing matters have the option to attach contracts with respective matters, so all the information is accessible and saves valuable time.

Features of In-House Legal Matter Management Technology

When technology procurement investigates legal management systems, that enterprise legal management platform needs to be scalable and robust. Many of the following features and capabilities are included in that list:

• Identify a legal management software system purpose-built for in-house legal, rather than software specific to case management and intended for litigation.
• The system must support both internal and external workflows to allow management of in-house and outsourced work in one collaborative and integrated solution.
• Look for opportunities to consolidate the number of systems in use. This helps minimize legal waste from switching between systems.
• User experience needs to be simple, easily navigable, include one-click access to many solution features, have configurable matter fields and legal request forms, and also intake screening, issue prioritization, and reporting.
• A robust enterprise legal management solution integrates email with other features so that data entry errors are reduced.
• Business stakeholders need self-serve options to access legal support for lower-risk tasks. Often, this occurs with a work intake form accessible on everyone’s desktop.
• Contracts should link with respective matters, enabling the legal team to tap a contract immediately to ensure compliance, author another contract, manage a matter, or other enterprise legal issues.
• Robust analytical reporting and insight capabilities enable legal operations to report to leadership about the status of matter management, budgets and cost controls for operational decisions.

Streamline Workflow with Legal Technology for In-House Legal Teams

For optimal visibility and productivity, a comprehensive and integrated approach to utilizing in-house legal technology is advised, bringing all aspects of legal work, including matter management, into one consolidated legal workspace.

The benefits of a legal workspace include total oversight, productivity efficiencies, and risk mitigation from streamlined workflows across all legal work, without switching between systems. Additionally, data becomes richer and more actionable, allowing identification of areas for efficiency gains.

In summary, while case management software has its place in litigation, effective legal management software with in-depth matter management features is crucial for in-house legal functions to optimize operations, productivity, and efficiency. Essentially, the software is critical as a foundational component of the entire corporate legal department. A legal workspace approach to matter management enables legal teams to do more with less, focusing on delivering value as a strategic business partner and enabler. To learn more about the difference between legal management software and case management software, contact us.