Effective matter management is critical for in-house counsel. After all, managing the daily flow of legal requests is the bread and butter of any legal function.

As legal workloads continue to grow in volume and complexity, in-house teams are under more pressure than ever to manage their work efficiently and make data-driven decisions which deliver strategic value to the business.

“Matter management” is a common term in the lexicon of corporate legal – but there tends to be some ambiguity in the language we use to define it. In this article, we’ll explain what is meant by a legal matter, why this can be such a useful lens for managing legal work, and how the right matter management system can be a game-changer for in-house counsel.

What is a legal matter?

Traditionally, legal matters have been defined narrowly, focusing on the big ticket items most commonly assigned to in-house legal teams (such as contracts, litigation, and regulatory compliance).

However, the reality of in-house legal work is that it routinely extends beyond these parameters. The average legal team is called upon to handle a diverse range of work, encompassing everything from minor administrative queries and ad-hoc document reviews to complex requests for advice which span an intricate web of legal issues, parties, and jurisdictions.

Therefore, to do justice to the realities faced by legal teams everyday, it is most helpful to view a legal matter simply as anything which requires the involvement of the legal team. 

Defining a legal matter in broad terms – as any issue, project, or dispute which is subject to laws and regulations, and that therefore requires some degree of legal resolution – makes it easier for legal teams to think about how to effectively manage their full (and growing) workload.

Key characteristics of a legal matter

While legal matters come in a broad range of shapes and sizes, the majority of tasks in-house teams deal with daily share a few characteristics. Some of the most common are:

• Scope: Legal matters can usually be categorized into one or more broad types of work from a practical perspective (for example, internal legal queries, contracts, regulatory and compliance work, or litigation).

• Practice area: Legal matters also usually fall into one or more areas of expertise from a legal perspective (for example, a complex contract negotiation might involve a range of legal specialisms, from commercial and intellectual property issues to employment and dispute resolution).

• Objective: Every legal matter has a clear objective or outcome, whether it’s a quick answer to a straightforward query, negotiating a detailed contract or creating internal policies for the business.

• Lifespan: Every legal matter has a beginning, a middle, and an end (or resolution).

• Documents: Legal matters typically involve documentation of some description, from simple emails, letters, and contracts to extensive bundles of evidence in litigation cases.

• Stakeholders: Most legal matters involve more than one stakeholder, and require collaboration with various internal departments (such as HR or finance) as well as with external counsel.

As we’ll explore next, whatever the legal work (or matter) at hand involves, identifying its key characteristics from the outset can make it far quicker and easier to categorize, track, and manage later on.

Why define legal tasks as legal matters?

Having a shared definition of in-house legal work which is aligned across the business might seem like a relatively minor shift in perspective – but it can have a transformative impact on how that work is managed.

When an organization has a common understanding of what legal work actually is through the lens of a legal matter, everyone begins to speak the language of the legal department. This creates the foundation of a consistent and structured approach to working with legal – one which eliminates ambiguity, simplifies processes, and ultimately allows legal to deliver far more efficient and strategic support to the business.

Some of the main advantages of adopting the “legal matter” lens for in-house teams are:

• Visibility: Having a shared understanding of what a legal matter is, and the characteristics they involve, makes it easier to monitor and provide insight into legal workloads, deadlines, and spend.

• Efficiency: Processing work through the funnel of a legal matter makes it easy to automate routine tasks in a structured way, optimizing efficiency and freeing up more capacity for strategic work.

• Collaboration: A shared definition and structure for legal work facilitates seamless communication between the legal team and the other departments in the business with whom they need to collaborate.

• Accountability: When everyone has a clear understanding of the elements and stages of a legal matter, it’s far easier to track progress and outcomes, ensuring transparency and accountability.

Why is legal matter management so critical for in-house counsel?

Once you begin to approach your in-house legal workload through the lens of broadly-defined legal matters, the logical next step is to find the best way for your team to organize, manage, and track those matters as efficiently as possible so that your team can spend more time on high-value strategic work. This is the process of legal matter management.

Matter management for in-house legal is by no means a new concept. Although the term is now often conflated with the idea of legal technology (which can be an extremely useful tool) it can also exist without it – businesses have had in-house legal advisors, many of whom had to find ways of managing their requests, projects, communications, and deadlines long before software came onto the scene.

For in-house counsel, understanding and managing legal matters effectively is vital for several reasons:

Strategic impact

Legal matters are the building blocks of an organization’s legal strategy. They help in-house counsel align their legal service delivery with wider business objectives, ensuring that every piece of advice, support, and guidance they provide contributes positively to the overall goals of the organization.

Risk management

By triaging and processing legal work through the organizational lens of a legal matter, in-house legal teams position themselves to identify potential risks early, empowering them to implement mitigation strategies faster and better safeguard the business against unforeseen liabilities.

Resource allocation

Because effective matter management helps in-house legal teams prioritize tasks based on their significance and impact on the organization,and provides structured data through which a team can evaluate its entire workload, it ensures that in-house legal resources are utilized efficiently.

Reporting

A good matter management process brings structure to legal work and generates data in relation to every task coming through to legal – which makes it visible. When captured through the funnel of strategic metrics and KPIs which align with wider organizational goals, this makes the value of the legal team measurable – a powerful asset when it comes to reporting and showcasing impact to the wider business.

The relationship between matter, case and project management

Lawyers, both in-house and in private law firms, have traditionally used a variety of methods and practices to define and manage their legal work which don’t always strictly fall under the definition of matter management.

Two of the most common types of in-house legal work are case management (primarily used by litigation teams) and legal project management (an adaptation of traditional project management adjusted to suit the demands of legal).

These types of work are important, and it’s beneficial to think of them as a subset of in-house matter management. However, using systems which are built to manage them in silo can inhibit the ability of corporate legal teams to gain control over all their work.

Case management

Case management systems are designed primarily for the management of litigation caseloads, which involve a unique set of procedures, processes, and documents. While case management is great for managing dispute resolution in-house, it is not built to meet the workflows which make up the rest of the broad spectrum of in-house work, all of which are far better served by legal matter management processes.

Legal project management

Legal project management (LPM) adapts the principles of traditional project management to offer a structured approach to multifaceted legal projects. LPM is a great way to manage complex legal matters, but is not suited to manage the broader demands of in-house legal work.

To put it simply – not all matters are projects, but all projects can be matters – and matter management is by far the most suitable approach for handling them all at once.

How a matter management system can help

The scale and scope of legal matters facing the average in-house team is growing by the day. As more and more work is being retained in-house, legal counsel are increasingly expected to handle a growing amount of new and complex work – all whilst taking a strategic role in delivering commercial outcomes.

While in-house counsel can muddle through using email and spreadsheets (or even case management and LPM systems) none of these tools are built specifically for the unique demands of in-house.

The resulting void in organizational structure, communication, and workflow management leaves teams disconnected and unnecessarily bogged down in manual tasks, leading to wasted time, frustration, and a reduced ability to focus on the high-value work that matters most to the business.

Fortunately, dedicated legal matter management systems, such as the LawVu legal workspace, are purpose-built to handle the full spectrum of demands facing in-house legal teams – all in one place. Legal matter management systems build a critical bridge between legal and the rest of the business; one which reflects the higher strategic and commercial expectations placed on modern legal teams.

Some of the most significant benefits of a dedicated legal matter management system are:

• Time savings and increased productivity: Because matter management systems centralize and streamline all legal workflows through one central source of truth, they optimize the efficiency of the legal team, eliminating time wasted on back and forth and jumping between systems.

• Better collaboration: A secure matter management system which allows teams to manage all their legal work in one place facilitates better communication and keeps everyone on the same page.

• Enhanced visibility and oversight: Because matter management solutions provide comprehensive visibility into all legal work, they make it easy to monitor progress and identify bottlenecks, extract data-driven insights, and ensure alignment with organizational goals.

• Lower risk: Matter management software reduces the risks inherent in legal workflows by keeping everything in one place. This reduces the likelihood of data security and compliance issues, and empowers legal teams to identify and manage potential risks early.

And of course, one of the biggest advantages of a centralized system of work dedicated to legal matter management is that it makes life easier for the most important element of the legal team – its people!

Ready to embrace legal matter management?

Approaching your in-house legal workload through the lens of legal matters is a simple shift – but a high-impact one. By adopting a centralized legal matter management system, such as the LawVu legal workspace, you’ll empower your team to work more safely and efficiently, demonstrate powerful data-driven outcomes, and focus on delivering the strategic impact that matters most to your business.

To learn more about how to adopt the right legal matter management system for your in-house team, check out the our guide to better matter management now.