Technology can help legal teams eliminate friction
For too long, in-house legal teams have lived with a reputation that no one really wants; the department that slows things down.
Whether it’s a deal waiting on contract review, a marketing campaign caught in approvals, or a product update held up waiting for sign off on terms and conditions, legal has often been seen as the last stop before progress. Yet in reality, the problem isn’t legal itself, it’s the way legal work happens. Fragmented systems, manual processes, and endless email threads create a kind of drag that IDC calls legal friction, which is the hidden resistance that slows every part of the business.
What if technology could make that friction disappear?
The good news is it already can. In-house legal teams across industries are starting to use technology not simply to automate tasks, but to transform how they operate. By connecting tools, data, and people through unified platforms, legal teams are turning from reactive gatekeepers into proactive business enablers. And in doing so, they’re discovering something powerful: when legal moves faster, the entire organization moves faster.
The modern legal function touches every corner of a business, from sales to HR to product development. Every contract signed, every compliance matter handled, every vendor onboarded has legal fingerprints on it somewhere. But without the right systems, that influence becomes a bottleneck. When requests come in through multiple channels: emails, telephone, hallway conversations, it’s nearly impossible to prioritize, track, or even measure the work. Many lawyers then spend valuable hours searching for documents or piecing together context, while business partners grow frustrated at the lack of visibility. Everyone ends up working harder but achieving less.
Technology changes this dynamic. A unified legal workspace brings all legal activities into one connected environment, where intake, contracts, matters, documents, and spend are managed in one place. Instead of scattered communication, there’s structure. Instead of being chased for status updates, there’s transparency. Requests are triaged automatically, information is centralized, and tasks are visible to both legal and business users. What once took days of back-and-forth can now move in minutes.
Redefining the role of legal
But the real magic of technology isn’t just speed, it’s how it takes away the frustration out of the daily grind. With workflows streamlined, in-house lawyers can finally focus on the work that actually requires their expertise. Routine, low-risk contracts can be automated or handled through self-service tools. Repetitive approvals can be replaced with pre-set rules. Legal no longer needs to be the gate for every small decision; instead, it becomes a strategic advisor, setting frameworks and processes that allow the rest of the business to operate safely and confidently, without legal involvement.
This shift from reactive to proactive fundamentally redefines the role of legal. Rather than waiting for requests to land in their inbox, proactive legal teams anticipate needs, identify risks before they escalate, and use data to improve continuously. Technology enables that by giving legal teams access to real insights, not just anecdotal feedback. With dashboards that track workloads, turnaround times, and spending patterns, legal leaders can see where the bottlenecks are and address them early. They can forecast demand, allocate resources better, and demonstrate their contribution to the business in concrete terms.
Being proactive also changes how legal is perceived internally. When the legal team delivers faster responses, clearer communication, and measurable results, confidence grows. The business stops viewing legal as an obstacle and starts to see it as a partner in execution. This improved internal reputation often leads to more investment, better alignment with strategic goals, and, ultimately, a seat at the decision-making tables.
Adopting technology, however, isn’t just about buying software. It’s about creating a unified operating system for legal, one that mirrors the efficiency, connectivity, and data-driven thinking already common in other parts of the business. Many legal departments still rely on tools built for general use, email, spreadsheets, and shared drives, instead of systems designed specifically for legal workflows. The result is a patchwork of disconnected data and duplicated effort. Modern legal technology eliminates this fragmentation. By connecting intake, matter management, contract lifecycle management, spend tracking, and analytics into one ecosystem, legal teams gain the same level of operational clarity their peers in finance or marketing already enjoy.
Creating confidence
The benefits go well beyond efficiency. When the legal process is clear and predictable, the rest of the business operates with greater confidence. Deals close faster. New products launch on schedule. Risks are managed earlier and more effectively. Legal can engage in the conversations that matter most, helping shape growth strategies, not just policing them. And for the legal function, it means less time lost to administrative chaos and more time spent doing meaningful, strategic work.
The shift toward technology-enabled legal operations is also changing the culture of in-house teams. Automation and data aren’t replacing the judgment or expertise of lawyers, they’re amplifying it. Technology handles the repetitive, mechanical parts of the job so humans can focus on interpretation, negotiation, and counsel. As teams adopt this mindset, they start to see continuous improvement as part of their mandate. Every workflow becomes an opportunity to refine, every data point a chance to learn.
For organizations, this isn’t just a legal upgrade, it’s a business transformation. Removing friction in legal unlocks speed and innovation across the enterprise. It reduces external spend, improves compliance, and strengthens trust between teams. The legal department stops being a cost center and becomes a visible driver of value.
It’s easy to forget that legal friction isn’t inevitable. It’s a symptom of old ways of working that no longer fit the pace of modern business. The tools exist to change that story, to create a legal function that’s integrated, intelligent, and aligned with the organization’s ambitions.
For in-house legal leaders, the challenge now is not whether to modernize, but how quickly they can make the shift. Because when legal friction disappears, what’s left is momentum. And momentum is what every business needs.
