A Playbook to Evaluate Matter Management Software and Vendors

According to a recent LawVu article, choosing in-house legal matter management software has become a high-stakes operational decision. Whether you’re refining a shortlist, evaluating vendors, or making the case for investment, here is a playbook to evaluate matter management software and vendors outlines the essential steps, side-by-side comparisons, clear feature definitions, and focused vendor questions.

The first step is to assess how the legal team and its stakeholders actually work. Understanding team size and roles, key workflows, and existing tools ensures that the evaluation is based on your organization’s current state. Equally important is mapping how departments such as HR, sales, procurement, and marketing interact with legal, revealing where intake breaks down, approvals stall, or work disappears into inboxes.

Then, the core capabilities that define modern matter management platforms should be taken into consideration. Centralized repositories, structured intake, workflow automation, integration with existing tools, and robust reporting, and analysis are not just nice-to-haves but the foundational infrastructure for legal operations. Artificial intelligence-enabled features are accelerators of productivity rather than replacements for judgment, while security and compliance remain non-negotiable requirements.

Next, you need to evaluate how the software features relate to outcomes, such as how structured intake reduces email chaos, automation shortens turnaround times, integration aligns with the business flow, and dashboards allow legal leaders to demonstrate value to the business. 

Vendor evaluation is a disciplined process. It should emphasize must-have requirements, capability comparisons, and scrutiny of the implementation process. To help build your business case, create a vendor evaluation checklist that includes an implementation timeline, training and support, and security standards. If the evaluation is done right, matter management will become a catalyst for operational clarity and long-term legal effectiveness.