Adoption is one of the biggest hurdles for any new technology initiative. Even the most advanced platforms will struggle to deliver value if the people who should be using them do not engage consistently. For in-house legal teams, where success depends on collaboration with the business, external law firms, and executive leadership, ensuring broad adoption of matter management software is essential.
At Lawcadia, we have seen firsthand how a well-designed platform can achieve broad adoption across all stakeholder groups. The results include the expected improved efficiencies and visibility, but most importantly, accurate real-time reporting that meets the needs of legal leadership and the wider organisation
So, how can legal teams ensure that matter management software is embraced and delivers on its promise?
Adoption by the Business: Simplicity and Self-Service
For most organisations, the business is the largest and most diverse group of stakeholders. Their engagement determines whether legal requests are submitted consistently, with the right information, and in a way that allows the legal team to manage workloads effectively.
The key driver here is simplicity. Business users will not adopt a platform if it feels cumbersome or is confusing. Lawcadia achieves adoption among business users by offering:
- Intuitive request forms: Guided prompts capture the right details from the outset.
- Immediate access to information: Users can track the status of their request without chasing legal by email.
- Self-service tools: Knowledge resources and access to templates reduce unnecessary requests.
When the business finds it easier to use the platform than to work around it, adoption naturally follows. It is not uncommon to achieve high adoption from the business, up to 96% of business stakeholders, noting that the legal team can still create matters themselves when necessary; flexibility is key.
Adoption by the Legal Team: Embedding the Platform in Daily Work
For the in-house legal team, adoption should not be optional – it should be where all work starts, progresses, and finishes. Lawcadia ensures full adoption because legal teams receive their work and manage matters through the platform. They also use it to file notes, find information, and conduct research in a central workspace. Importantly, as the business captures most of the key data points for reporting through the intake process, there is minimal reporting and manual data entry.
This approach means:
- Automated workflows: Requests flow into standardised triage, approval, and assignment processes.
- Centralised tasks and communications: Deadlines, priorities, documents, and advice are accessible in one place.
- Seamless reporting: Data capture is automatic, eliminating manual spreadsheets.
For legal teams, the platform quickly becomes the single source of truth and the foundation of efficient, risk-aware operations.
Adoption by General Counsel: Real-Time Visibility and Strategic Insight
General Counsel and team leaders need visibility of performance, workload, and outcomes. They expect concise, accurate reports that reflect real-time data.
Because Lawcadia achieves strong adoption across the legal team and from the business, the data flowing into the system is complete and reliable. This enables:
- Real-time dashboards: Configured to the metrics that matter most, from spend to service delivery.
- Accurate reporting: Executives can trust the data because it reflects the entirety of legal activity.
- Strategic insights: Trends and patterns become visible, allowing legal leaders to align with business priorities.
For General Counsel and executives, the platform delivers transparency and control, strengthening the legal function’s role as a strategic partner.
Adoption by Law Firms: Streamlining Instructions and Billing
External law firms are another critical group of users. For them, adoption is driven by the ease of receiving instructions, managing budgets and submitting invoices for review and approval.
With Lawcadia, law firms achieve full adoption because:
- Instructions arrive in-platform: No confusion or missing details.
- Collaboration is simplified: Budget updates and invoices go through a single, secure channel.
- Billing is faster: Invoices submitted via Lawcadia are reviewed, approved, and paid more quickly than manual methods.
- Reporting is available: Lawcadia provides in-depth reporting for clients, eliminating the demand for bespoke manual reports.
By using the platform, law firms meet client requirements while also benefiting from efficiency and faster payment cycles.
The Network Effect of Adoption
One of the most powerful outcomes of broad adoption is the network effect. As each stakeholder group engages, the value multiplies for everyone.
- For the business: Faster access to advice and transparency on progress.
- For the legal team: Streamlined workflows and reliable reporting.
- For General Counsel and executives: Real-time visibility and strategic oversight.
- For law firms: Clear instructions and faster payments.
The more it is used, the more valuable the system becomes, creating a self-sustaining cycle of engagement.
Ensuring Successful Adoption: Lessons Learned
Through our work with clients, we have identified several practical steps to ensure adoption:
- Prioritise user experience – Design processes around how each group prefers to work and provide flexibility.
- Communicate benefits – Tailor the message for each stakeholder – “what’s in it for me”.
- Provide training and support -Even intuitive systems benefit from platform walk-throughs, drop-in sessions and live chat with real people.
- Automate wherever possible – Efficiency gains create immediate value.
- Leverage quick wins – Showcase early successes to build momentum.
- Embed reporting – Demonstrate the power of reporting.
When adoption is easy, beneficial, and well supported, it becomes the natural way of working.
Conclusion
Legal matter management software has the potential to transform how in-house legal teams operate and deliver value. But the true measure of success lies not in features, but in adoption.
Lawcadia’s experience shows that when matter management software is designed with all stakeholders in mind, excellent adoption can be achieved across the business, the legal team, and external law firms. The outcome is accurate, real-time reporting for General Counsel, simplicity and self-service for the business, and streamlined engagement with law firms.
When adoption is high technology becomes a core foundation of a high-performing, strategically aligned legal function.