There’s a major misconception that only law firms will benefit from legal tech. However, legal tech is as much a business tool as it is a legal tool, and the software is often used in businesses to ensure that critical processes like closing deals, revenue planning, and recruitment are made more efficient.
But what are the different types of legal tech software available to businesses, and what do they actually do? This post discusses the legal tech solutions most commonly used in businesses and the benefits of implementing them.
1. Contract management software
If your business is closing a lot of deals and building a lot of new partnerships, ensuring these are closed quickly and efficiently is key. Unfortunately, most fast-growth businesses will be dealing with more contracts than their team can handle, which causes delays.
That’s where contract management software will be useful. Contract management software empowers the legal teams in businesses to pass certain tasks on to the relevant departments, and return to the high-value stuff they were trained to do. It also enables businesses to manage the contract workflow from end to end, making it easier and more efficient to create, negotiate, sign and store important business contracts, which ultimately capture revenue.
Not only that, but most contract management solutions allow users to set up approval workflows and query data, which ensures that the business decisions you make are supported with data and free from mistakes.
The most reputable contract management solutions include Juro, Pandadoc, and ContractWorks.
2. Electronic signature software
Electronic signature software is designed to enable businesses and individuals to sign contracts electronically, rather than in-person using wet-ink. Reputable eSignature providers deliver a secure outlet for those entering contracts and agreeing to terms to add their signature, as well as creating an audit trail to ensure companies can access information like who signed an agreement and when.
There are numerous benefits of eSignature, including that it prevents the need for hardcopies and is better for the environment, as well as that it can create a more convenient signing experience for your business and the business you’re dealing with.
There are lots of DocuSign alternatives that deliver eSignature functionality to businesses.
3. Spend and matter management
Legal spend and matter management software is designed to help businesses manage and monitor their legal spend by creating a comprehensive and intuitive database of records, reports, invoices, and analytics.
Spend and matter management software is designed to provide a single source of information to business and legal teams about what has been spent and where, as well as ensure that there are data available to help businesses make more informed decisions about their legal spend.
Some of the most popular spend and matter management platforms include Clio, Procurify and Apperio.
4. Flexible resourcing software
Flexible resourcing software is also very valuable for businesses with a legal function, as it enables them to quickly and easily source the best legal talent to support certain projects and meet increasing demand.
This kind of software is most useful when a business is undergoing a major change, such as an acquisition, or a major transaction where a lot of due diligence is required. However, it can also prove useful for smaller projects, like when legal translation is required, or where documents need to be reviewed quickly to meet fast-approaching deadlines.
The most reputable flexible resourcing platforms include Axiom, F-flex, and Lexoo, all of which connect businesses with a variety of different legal professionals.
5. Contract review tools
In a fast-growing business, it’s common for contract volumes to increase rapidly, making it difficult for legal and business teams responsible to manage the workload.
Fortunately, advanced legal software like contract review tools can make the process of reviewing a contract a much faster and more efficient process, as it automates a lot of the manual work usually required when reviewing a contract.
Although, for businesses that are feeling the pressure of having more contracts and less time, a more comprehensive solution like contract management software might be more useful as it makes the entire contract process more efficient, rather than just one part.
Popular contract review software providers include Eigen Technologies, Kira and Law Geex.
How to choose the perfect legal tech software for your business
If your business is considering legal software, then your legal and compliance teams are likely experiencing some pain points or friction already. Whether they’re buried in standard contracts or struggling to find enough manpower to do thorough due diligence, businesses can’t afford to ignore these growing pains – particularly if they have aggressive targets.
To find the perfect software to establish more efficient processes in your business, first identify where the biggest inefficiencies lie. From there, look for a solution that delivers the features required to improve your current practices, and start implementing it as soon as you can.
Of course, you’ll need to review the software’s usefulness and fit as your business develops and changes, but having the right software in place to prepare you for this change is essential for businesses seeking to scale.
Written by Richard Mabey, CEO and co-founder of Juro.