Smart Tech Choices for In-House Teams Trying to Avoid Legal Friction

LawVu’s Ashley Bass describes how frustrating workflow and communication inefficiencies are for in-house legal teams trying to scale. During the webinar “Smart Tech Choices for Scaling Legal Service,” Josephine Norris of LawVu and Zack Hutto of Epiq outlined a pragmatic roadmap for tackling these inefficiencies. The answer, they said, lies in strategic technology adoption.

Norris and Hutter began their discussion by defining “legal friction” — the operational drag from manual work, fragmented systems, and poor processes. Legal friction shows up in overflowing inboxes, routine contract delays, and limited visibility into matter status. Rather than trying to fix every inefficiency at once, Norris and Hutto advocated for a more strategic and sustainable approach.

The first step, they acknowledged, is problem mapping. Instead of starting with software, legal leaders should identify areas where the most time is lost, the requests are repetitive, or workflows are bogged down. Once the priorities are clear, technology can be selected to address specific pain points.

Self-service has emerged as a powerful lever for scaling. By enabling business users to handle low-risk tasks like non-disclosure agreements, legal teams can focus on more strategic work. Research shows that a lack of self-service is one of the top friction points in organizations.

Centralized intake is another efficiency driver. Streamlining requests through structured forms routes matters correctly, reduces email clutter, and boosts visibility for both legal and business users. “It’s not just about making life easier for legal. It’s about making legal easier to work with,” says Norris.

Norris advised that technology selection should fit business maturity, integrate with existing systems, and support iteration. Hutto, on the other hand, warned against investment in overly complex solutions and advocated for a measured, feedback-driven approach.

Norris and Hutto both agreed that data is the final key to proving value. With integrated dashboards and reporting, in-house legal teams trying to scale can track performance, highlight risks, justify resources, and position legal as a business partner.