Traditional Contract Management Solutions Versus Legal Workspace Platforms

Contracts play a crucial role in businesses, affecting cost efficiency, risk management, and overall organizational function, In the face of increasing pressure to optimize resources and do more with less, modern in-house legal teams can no longer rely on outdated contract lifecycle management software that can hinder business progress, as reported in an article by LawVu.

Traditional approaches to contract management include manual processes like collaborating on drafts via emails, using spreadsheets to track progress, and storing electronic documents on external hard drives. An improvement is using point solutions, enterprise legal management (ELM) systems, and stand-alone document management tools.       

While there are merits to traditional methods such as staying with the “tried and true” and short-term cost savings, they come with significant drawbacks. These include efficiency losses due to multiple technology solutions, limited visibility, inefficient reporting, and compromised data security, all of which result in time-consuming processes and difficulties in obtaining meaningful insights.

According to the ACC 2023 Legal Technology Report for In-house Legal Professionals, 65 percent of respondents use Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) systems. The ACC report stated that 62 percent cited lack of interconnectivity as their top pain point when using multiple solutions, and 43 percent said they would prefer to invest in one comprehensive operating system from the outset. This tells us there is a strong business case for a single management solution supporting all the work that legal does — a legal workspace platform.

These platforms integrate contract management with document management, matter management, intake, and spend management, as well as insights and reporting, providing a comprehensive solution to streamline legal workflows. 

The benefits of legal workspaces include improved efficiency through AI-powered features, enhanced visibility, actionable reporting, robust data security, and maximized return on investment. They benefit contract workflows and elevate the entire legal function, laying a solid foundation for broader business success.