What Legal Teams Should Know Before Choosing Software

Legal teams responsible for managing licensing, permitting, certifications, and clearances across multiple jurisdictions often find themselves navigating an overwhelming task without the proper tools, guidance, or structural support. It is one of those operational areas that no one notices until something goes wrong, and suddenly the paralegal (or other legal support professional) is the one responsible for maintaining the entire framework. Most small or lean legal teams will have to start with the technology they already have. In many cases, that means relying heavily on the Microsoft Suite because it provides the strongest foundation for building internal systems without purchasing new software.

Understanding why Microsoft’s tools are so significant begins with recognizing how each one contributes to a larger workflow. SharePoint allows legal teams to store structured information, maintain security, organize documents, and build lists that function more like dynamic databases than traditional spreadsheets. Power Automate sits on top of that structure and automates tasks that would otherwise require manual effort, such as routing work to the right person, sending renewal reminders, updating statuses, and keeping the system running without constant oversight. Power BI translates all of this information into visual dashboards that leadership can interpret instantly, enabling the legal team to enhance its operational visibility. Microsoft Planner adds another layer by allowing the team to assign tasks, track deadlines, and maintain clarity on who is responsible for each step. These tools are powerful individually, but together they create an internal system that feels structured, scalable, and surprisingly sophisticated for teams working within limited budgets.

The challenge occurs when the team realizes that building such a system and workflow requires significant time, planning, and patience. While automation can save enormous amounts of time in the long run, the initial build requires a detailed mapping of every workflow, status, field, and date rule. For most legal support professionals, this work happens alongside their everyday responsibilities, which means the project progresses slowly over weeks or months. A fully functioning and customized internal legal system can take months to design and implement, especially if the person building it is learning the tools as they go. This is why many corporate legal departments and large law firms are now investing in roles such as legal project managers, legal project assistants, and legal operations specialists; these roles free the paralegal and legal support professionals from having to build an enterprise-level system alone.

In my own experience working on corporate legal teams, this work frequently fell on the legal support professional by default.

When budgets were tight, purchasing external software was not an option, so we had to rely on what already existed within the organization.

This required thinking far ahead, anticipating future problems, designing scalable workflows, and striking a balance between customization and simplicity. Internal builds gave us total control over the system and allowed us to create something that aligned exactly with the team’s needs. The advantage of building internally is the freedom to create something highly customized. Still, the cost is the time and effort required to build, launch, and maintain it correctly, and that requires having patience and technical curiosity to bring the system to life.

This becomes even more complicated when the paralegal (or legal support professional) is new to the profession, because they are still learning both the legal substance and the operational structure simultaneously. When the legal department lacks a legal operations team or a dedicated project professional, the entire burden of designing, implementing, and maintaining the system usually falls on one person. No legal support professional should be expected to build a complex compliance tracking system alone, especially when they are already supporting attorneys and managing their regular workload. In these situations, internal builds become unrealistic, and the more compassionate and practical recommendation is to lean toward ready-made software that can be implemented quickly and requires far less technical configuration.

When teams decide to explore external software, the decision must be anchored in a realistic understanding of time versus budget. If time is more valuable than money, a ready-made platform becomes a better option. If money is the limiting factor but the team has someone who can dedicate months to building the system, an internal solution may still be viable. Even so, each external software vendor has limitations, and no single tool will satisfy every need. Choosing external software requires clarity about what truly matters, what the team can compromise on, the budget, and which features are essential for long-term sustainability.

When legal teams begin evaluating software options, it helps to consider reputable platforms that are known for supporting operational work in legal departments. Ironclad is a strong choice for legal teams handling high volumes of contracts and seeking to streamline the lifecycle from initiation to signature. The platform is a powerhouse that includes automation capabilities, clickwrap technology, and dashboards that track turnaround times and workflow efficiency, making it easier for legal teams to identify bottlenecks. Ironclad’s strength lies in enabling legal teams to remain consistent and scalable, especially as contract volume increases or cross-functional collaboration becomes more complex. Ironclad is worth considering for teams that want automation, structured workflows, and long-term scalability without building those elements internally.

LawVu serves a different need. It functions as a centralized legal workspace that brings together matters, contracts, intake requests, documents, and reporting in one environment. For teams managing many different types of work, this consolidation is invaluable. Although I have not personally used LawVu, it is well-regarded for helping legal departments maintain clarity across their workload while giving leadership visibility into performance. Because it is structured yet flexible, teams can manage daily tasks and long-term strategic work in the same system. LawVu provides a strong operational foundation for in-house teams seeking visibility and organization without the burden of designing everything from scratch.

Clio remains a dependable choice for small law firms and small legal teams, because it simplifies the everyday administrative work that often consumes the most time. While Clio is not explicitly designed for regulatory tracking or compliance workflows, it gives teams structure for matters, calendaring, docketing, billing, and client interactions. For a solo legal support professional supporting a small practice, this level of organization can eliminate chaos and provide clarity. Clio is a realistic solution for small teams that want stability and ease of use without overwhelming their limited resources.

For teams with an annual budget under $10,000, Airtable is a strong contender because it blends the familiarity of a spreadsheet with the power of a database. Airtable allows legal teams to create custom fields, link records together, attach documents, automate reminders, and visualize data in multiple ways. Because it is intuitive, a legal support professional can build and maintain the system without heavy IT support. Airtable’s flexibility makes it ideal for compliance tracking, pipeline management, matter tracking, or renewal calendars, and teams often find that it grows with them as they learn more about their workflow needs. Airtable is a powerful yet approachable option for teams that need more structure than spreadsheets but cannot take on the complexity of full enterprise platforms.

SmartSuite is another accessible platform that provides workflow automation, project management, and customizable data tracking within a user-friendly interface. Legal teams appreciate that SmartSuite allows them to build tailored workflows for compliance, intake, licensing, or matter management without requiring coding skills. It also supports robust permission controls and integrates smoothly with other business tools, helping legal teams maintain data integrity and consistency. SmartSuite is worth considering for teams seeking a flexible, modern system that feels professional and organized yet remains financially accessible for small legal teams.

All of these options give paralegals, legal support professionals, and small legal teams something concrete to move toward. The goal is not to convince the team that software is the solution to every problem, but to provide a realistic path forward based on their unique constraints, their available time, and the support they have (or do not have) from the rest of the organization. The most important thing is choosing a system that reduces manual effort, increases clarity, and allows legal professionals to spend more time on meaningful work rather than getting lost in spreadsheets and competing deadlines.

If you want to learn more about how you can effectively prepare for a project like this, we teach you exactly how to do it inside our Simply Thrives program. You'll learn how to get buy-in and how to negotiate with attorneys or your manager to purchase or set up the right tool(s) and support system(s) for you and your team.