How legal teams can defeat work volume challenges and actually innovate

For years, legal teams have been caught in an unsustainable cycle, burdened by an ever-growing workload, limited resources, and mounting compliance demands. The result? Teams are overwhelmed by daily demands leaving little room for long-term innovation.

Our Global Survey Report, Beyond the Gridlock, reveals that work volume is the top-ranked challenge for legal professionals for the third consecutive year. Yet, instead of implementing large-scale, transformative solutions, many legal teams are making small, targeted operational improvements that drive efficiency without needing sweeping overhauls.

Legal operations have become the quiet architect behind transformation. It's not a department, it’s a mindset, spanning contract management, compliance, risk, information governance, litigation support, and more. By rethinking how work flows through these systems, teams are uncovering capacity they didn’t know they had. Here’s the legal hack you need to know—smart, targeted reinventions can cut the waste, free time and set the stage for bigger things.

Three reasons why legal operations innovation should be a priority

Our survey highlighted three key reasons why smaller reinventions within legal operations should be a top priority:

1. Workload isn’t the problem, the process is

Workload volume is the single greatest challenge for legal professionals, with 48% of respondents identifying it as their top concern. The challenge isn’t just the complexity of legal matters, it’s the accumulation of small, routine tasks that drain significant time and resources.

Reinventions within legal operations address this problem by refining workflows, implementing automation, and optimizing legal project management. These targeted improvements reduce administrative burdens, allowing legal professionals to redirect their focus to higher-value, strategic work instead of being consumed by time-intensive processes.

2. Legal wants a seat at the strategy table, but it’s chained to admin tasks

The role of legal teams is evolving beyond risk mitigation—they are becoming integral to business strategy. According to the survey, 27% of legal professionals now consider strategic decision-making a top priority, a sharp increase from just 4% the previous year.

To support this shift, transformations within legal operations, such as optimizing contract lifecycle management (CLM), enhancing information governance, and leveraging legal analytics, can streamline contract negotiations, compliance management, and risk mitigation. These targeted improvements enable more proactive, data-driven decision-making, turning legal teams from reactive problem-solvers into strategic business partners.

3. Big change starts small

Many legal teams aspire to embrace AI, globalized legal services, and other transformative solutions, but successful implementation requires thoughtful planning and integration. Instead of waiting for large-scale change, 60% of legal professionals are prioritizing operational reinventions—targeted, strategic improvements that create immediate efficiencies and build a foundation for broader transformation.

Starting with small, achievable process improvements can deliver immediate efficiency gains, creating the capacity for teams to explore broader innovations over time. This provides a step-by-step approach to innovation, enabling teams to make data-driven decisions on where to invest resources for the greatest impact.

How small wins lead to larger transformation

The key to long-term success in legal operations isn’t waiting for a major transformation. It’s starting small, focusing on high-impact areas, and building momentum over time. Legal teams can free up bandwidth, reduce costs, and enhance decision-making through incremental changes, all without disrupting core legal functions.

Here’s how to get started:

1. Identify key roadblocks

Before making any changes, pinpoint the biggest obstacles slowing you down. Conduct a workflow audit by tracking how legal professionals spend their time. Identify the top three pain points that consume the most hours and contribute to delays. Then ask yourself:

• What are our most time-consuming tasks that don’t add strategic value?
• Where does gridlock commonly occur in our processes?
• Which workflows require the most manual effort?
• Where do we experience the most errors, delays, and compliance risks?

2. Prioritize high-impact areas

After identifying roadblocks, work first to address the areas where you can achieve quick wins. Here are some examples of small changes that can deliver big results:

• Contract management: Contracts are a core function of legal teams, yet traditional review and approval processes are slow, manual, and resource-intensive. Standardized contract templates reduce back-and-forth revisions, while automated intake workflows eliminate bottlenecks. Using self-service contract tools for low-risk agreements allows legal teams to focus on complex negotiations.
• Document review: With legal data volumes doubling every two years, document review remains one of the biggest obstacles in legal operations. Small optimizations—batch processing, keyword filtering, and AI-assisted categorization—can significantly improve speed and accuracy while reducing manual effort.
• Compliance and risk management: Regulatory landscapes are evolving rapidly, making compliance a growing burden for legal teams. 40% of legal professionals surveyed are prioritizing small refinements in compliance tracking, automated reporting, and centralized policy updates to reduce errors and increase efficiency.
• Legal project management: As legal matters grow in complexity, teams need better ways to structure their workload. Defining clear ownership of tasks, using visual dashboards, and breaking projects into smaller milestones helps legal teams stay organized, improving collaboration and reducing delays.

3. Leverage technology wisely

Technology doesn’t need to replace legal professionals, it should enhance their capabilities. Legal teams should start small with tools that complement existing workflows:

• Automate routine tasks (e.g., document review filtering and compliance tracking).
• Adopt contract management software to reduce manual contract handling.
• Use AI for small projects, such as legal research and due diligence.

4. Measure and adjust

Measure every process change to assess its effectiveness. Track metrics such as time saved, cost reductions, accuracy, and turnaround time.

5. Build a culture of continuous improvement

Legal operations are not a one-time project, it’s an ongoing effort. To sustain improvements, take these steps:

• Empower your professionals to suggest and implement process improvements.
• Encourage knowledge sharing: let team members share what’s working well.
• Assess pain points every quarter, and review and adjust workflows as needed.
• Celebrate wins, sharing how small improvements have led to tangible results.

Moving beyond the gridlock

Legal teams don’t need to be stuck in a cycle of overload. You have the power to take control, streamline workflows, and create room for strategic growth. Embracing small, meaningful changes can help your team reclaim bandwidth, improve operational efficiency, and lay the groundwork for broader transformation.

Want to learn more? Download our Global Survey Report, Beyond the Gridlock, for deeper insights and actionable strategies on overcoming workload gridlock and driving legal innovation.