10 questions to ask before investing in matter management software
In-house legal teams are under pressure to do more with less – manage growing workloads, reduce risk, and demonstrate value to the business. Yet many still rely on spreadsheets, email chains, and disconnected tools. The result? Lost visibility, manual effort, and difficulty tracking or reporting on work.
Choosing the right matter management software can change that. But with so many options, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.
This 10-question checklist is designed to help you evaluate platforms through the lens of the real-world challenges faced by your legal team and business: visibility, adoption, efficiency, scalability, risk, and ROI.
Our primary goal in implementing LawVu was to provide our team convenience and efficiency through a one-stop shop for documentation and everything that related to a matter. Matt Pentz, Assistant Town Attorney, Cary, NC
1. Does it centralize all legal matters in one place?
A true matter management system provides a single, secure hub for all legal activity – from intake to insights. Centralization means you can see what’s in progress, who’s responsible, and what risks are on the horizon.
With LawVu Workspace Matters, everything lives in one secure, searchable environment – intake, matters, documents, emails, and knowledge – with the option to connect your contract and spend management workflows to experience the full benefits of managing all your legal work in one place. Teams gain instant access to information through interactive dashboards, personalized grid views, and full-text search across your entire repository.
Before LawVu, there was a significant risk around documentation – it was scattered throughout emails. I now have a much more robust record of what’s happening, and LawVu has reduced our exposure for not having complete matters. Andrew Hay, Head of Operations, Legal and Secretariat, Co-op.
Why it matters: Centralization delivers the visibility, insights, and accountability your GC needs to manage workload and demonstrate value.
2. How does it handle intake and triage of legal requests?
An effective system should streamline how legal work enters your team. Look for self-service portals and automated triage that eliminate email chaos, provide visibility across your legal team, and ensures structured requests go to the right people so they have everything they need upfront to get started on the matter straight away.
LawVu’s Business Portal gives unlimited business users an easy way to submit, track, and collaborate on legal requests – transforming legal service delivery, and improving the engagement and relationship between legal and the wider business.
Why it matters: Efficient intake ensures nothing slips through the cracks. Legal can prioritize, triage, and track matters – reducing back-and-forth and manual admin to improve response and cycle times across the board.
3. Can it integrate with the tools our business already uses?
Adoption depends on fit. The best systems integrate seamlessly with your existing tools, from Microsoft 365, Google drive and Gmail, to Slack, Salesforce, and DocuSign.
LawVu offers out-of-the-box integrations that sync emails, documents, and tasks automatically, reducing duplication and ensuring legal stays connected to how the business already works.
I appreciate the ability to see all my matters at a glance and also update the status of the matter to keep my business stakeholders informed of the progress. It helps keep me organized and business users like the experience (even if it is a slight hassle to log a matter). The feedback from the business has been really positive! The integration is great and I like the ability to file emails as a thread for easier file maintenance. Stephanie W., Director, Senior Legal Counsel Legal Services, G2 user review
Why it matters: Integrated systems reduce silos and make collaboration effortless across departments.
4. What reporting and analytics are built in?
LawVu’s GC Dashboard consolidates KPIs across intake, matters, contracts and spend into one real-time view. General Counsel and Legal Ops can see the big picture – what work is being done, where money is going, and how legal contributes to business outcomes – without building reports from scratch.
Why it matters: Data is unlocked and easy to see and share in real-time so legal move from reactive service provider to strategic business partner.
LawVu’s analytics and reporting empowered us to drive more actionable insights and speak the language of the business through data. We can show our value as a legal team in terms of the work we do, how we do it, and how we leveraged technology to build trust as a reputable business partner. Charmaine S., Contracts Manager, G2 review
5. How easy is it for business users to submit and track requests?
If business users find the system confusing, they’ll go back to email. A user-friendly interface and intuitive workflows are essential to ensure company-wide adoption.
With LawVu, collaboration is effortless. Users can create legal requests from Salesforce, tag teammates, forward emails or Teams messages directly into LawVu, and track progress from intake to resolution.
LawVu makes collaboration incredibly easy. You can simply tag team members or assign matters and contracts directly to the relevant person, which keeps workflows moving smoothly. Shayne Vergara V., EA and MPO, G2 user review
Why it matters: The more accessible your system, the more your business can engage and see value fast, and this translates into real value legal can deliver across the business.
6. Does it scale with our team’s growth?
Small teams need flexible starts; larger ones need enterprise scalability. Choose a platform that grows with you – one that allows you to configure workflows, fields, and permissions without relying on IT, and with full support from LawVu’s customer success and implementation teams along the way.
LawVu’s modular approach and flexible configuration means you can start small and expand functionality as your team and business needs evolve.
Why it matters: Scalable systems protect your investment, reduce technical and cost overhead, and adapt as your legal team’s needs evolve.
7. What security and compliance measures are in place?
Legal data is among the most sensitive information in any organization and protecting it requires more than just passwords and promises. Your matter management provider should deliver enterprise-grade security, robust privacy protections, and transparent compliance practices that meet global standards.
LawVu’s Trust Center demonstrates this commitment through a multilayered approach to data protection and resilience:
- Encryption in transit and at rest using the latest industry standards.
- Single sign-on (SSO) and SCIM integration to enforce secure, organization-wide access with multi-factor authentication.
- Regular third-party penetration testing and continuous vulnerability scanning by CREST-certified security firms.
- 99.95% service uptime SLA, built on Microsoft Azure to ensure high availability, scalability, and reliability.
- Compliance with GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA, and certified against ISO 27001, SOC 1, and SOC 2 standards.
- Appointed Privacy and Data Protection Officers, and a company-wide risk management program aligned with ISO 27001 controls.
- AI Governance and Principles program to ensure secure, responsible AI use within the LawVu ecosystem.
Why it matters: Security isn’t optional. Choosing a platform like LawVu – independently certified, transparent, and built for resilience – ensures that your most sensitive legal data remains protected, compliant, and always available.
8. What level of customization and workflow automation is possible?
Every legal team has unique processes. The best systems provide best practice for success and allow you to tailor workflows, fields, and self-service templates – and automate repetitive tasks like triage, status updates, and approvals.
LawVu’s configurable templates and automation features let teams streamline processes without losing flexibility.
One of the things that I love- about LawVu is the ability to tailor matters in order to categorize them on an urgency basis, risk basis, and importance basis so I can tie all of the matters back to our company’s OKRs. Rosanna Biggs, General Counsel, Linktree
Why it matters: Customization ensures the software fits you, not the other way around.
9. What customer support, training, and onboarding are offered?
Even the best software will fail without strong implementation. Evaluate the vendor’s onboarding process, training programs, and support responsiveness.
LawVu provides 24/7 global support, a dedicated implementation manager, and on-demand learning through LawVu Academy.
Why it matters: The success of your rollout depends on the partner standing behind the product.
10. What ROI can we expect – and how quickly?
Matter management software should pay for itself – and the numbers back up.
According to IDC’s Legal Friction: The Real Cost to Your Business (May 2025), organizations that adopt unified legal technology like LawVu’s workspace see, on average, 13% percent cost savings and productivity gains. Those savings come from reduced overtime, fewer external counsel costs, and faster contract turnaround times – with 70% reporting efficiency gains and 61%improving contract lifecycle management.
LawVu is almost like another team member that helps us achieve our goals and align with the strategy of the business. Nicola Gannon, Deputy Chief Legal Counsel, Craveable Brands
Why it matters: Modern legal platforms deliver measurable ROI by reducing wasted time, cutting legal costs, and empowering teams to focus on strategic work that drives business value.
Final takeaways
Not all matter management systems are created equally. The right one will centralize work, streamline intake, integrate with the business, and deliver insights that prove legal’s impact.
Before you buy, use this checklist to evaluate whether a solution aligns with your team’s goals today – and where you’re headed tomorrow.
