Legal Software Development: Use Cases for Business and Real-World Examples

According to Gartner, the global legal technology market is projected to reach $50 billion by 2027 — a significant leap from its $22 billion valuation in 2022.

One reason behind such significant growth is that legal industry operations grow increasingly complex due to the constant regulatory pressure, diversity of complex workflows, difficulty with managing and accessing data, security concerns, etc. As a result, more and more domain professionals are turning to advanced legal software, also known as legaltech, to streamline routine workflows, ensure compliance and top-notch security, and enhance decision-making.

Keep reading to explore the most common use cases for legaltech and real-life examples of legal software tailored to different business needs.

Legal software is a broad term that applies to digital solutions used to access law-related services, assist legal practitioners, and streamline judicial or regulatory processes.

Such technologies can bring businesses a wide array of benefits, but the most important ones are:

• Time savings achieved through automated processes
• Enhanced efficiency and precision in legal matters
• Better access to legal knowledge and services
• Improved regulation compliance and risk management
• Secure management of documentation and other law-related data.

Consequently, legaltech has gained significant popularity in the law sector, as illustrated in the image below.

It is important to note that many companies outside the legal sector can also benefit from legal software development. Legaltech solutions help businesses from different domains resolve customer disputes, store and manage documents, organize mergers and acquisitions, etc.

Legal software can cover a wide range of use cases. Here we will explore the most common ones and present prominent legaltech examples that address different business challenges. 

Legal workflows are often time-consuming and effort-intensive, primarily because there are too many laws, standards, and rules to navigate, as well as multiple stakeholders to interact with.

Legal software solutions help businesses achieve greater efficiency by streamlining routine processes, often with the help of AI integrations. In particular, law firms use different types of legal software that cover day-to-day operations like scheduling, billing, document management, analytics, and customer interactions.

Many legaltech CRMs provide features for managing client relationships, scheduling meetings, and storing billing records. An ideal example of such a platform is MyCase. It is a legaltech SaaS platform designed to streamline the daily operations of law firms by integrating case management, client communication, billing, and document management into a single platform. This software solution provides functionality for handling deadlines, tracking billable hours, and communicating with customers through a client portal. To streamline invoicing and payment processes, MyCase offers reporting finance-oriented reporting tools.

In the law sector, documentation management may be extremely time-consuming. Creating, organizing, storing, signing, and handling legal documents, such as reports, contracts, bills, petitions, and leases, can be challenging due to their sheer volume. In addition, law firms often struggle with securely and efficiently storing case evidence, such as video recordings and images.

That is when legal software comes in handy. These solutions help companies automate document creation and securely store all files. Additionally, documentation management systems for the legal field offer convenient features for searching documents and managing versions. The same principles apply to storing case-related evidence. Legal software enables companies to encrypt, store, manage, and review media files critical to legal cases.

A good example here is a legal case management platform built by Leobit for an U.S.-based legaltech firm. The solution provides a comprehensive set of features for storing, organizing, and formatting case-related files. The platform also features advanced search functionality that allows users to locate relevant files with just a few clicks.

To ensure fast searches, the Leobit team integrated the Azure Cognitive Search service into the system. This allowed us to establish a dedicated and searchable Azure Index database for case-related files. The search system contains a carefully filtered subset of records tailored to match user search patterns. This optimizes search efficiency and ensures that only relevant records are retrieved.

AI software development has transformed many domains, and the law industry is not an exception. ML algorithms are successfully applied in a broad range of legal software platforms. However, many legal technology firms rely on AI agents as standalone solutions. Agentic artificial intelligence can help with such tasks as contract review, legal research, risk analysis, and compliance monitoring.

These tools use machine learning and natural language processing to quickly analyze vast amounts of legal data, identify key clauses, and spot potential risks, helping legal teams to improve decision-making and workflow efficiency.

Luminance is a solid example of an AI-powered legal assistance platform. This solution helps legal professionals with contract review and due diligence. By applying machine learning, Luminance scans and analyzes legal documents to identify risks, anomalies, and key terms.

This platform applies advanced AI analytics to support more accurate legal decision-making. Luminance’s intelligent insights enable law firms and in-house legal teams to act faster and more efficiently.

As mentioned earlier, the legal field can be difficult to navigate due to the vast number of laws, rules, regulations, and standards. Even experienced lawyers and legal specialists benefit from a reliable and consistent knowledge base to quickly verify relevant information.

A possible solution to this challenge is applying legal research tools that help users find relevant laws, judicial commentaries, and other industry-specific information. Often powered with generative AI or built on top of a large language model (LLM), such tools are fast, efficient, and even capable of understanding user intent.

For example, LexisNexis, one of the biggest legaltech companies, offers a platform that provides legal, regulatory, and business information and analytics. Its primary users are law firms, corporations, and government institutions. LexisNexis grants its users access to a wide-ranging legal database that encompasses case law, statutory materials, and regulations. The platform relies on advanced AI algorithms that facilitate fast legal searches and ensure more precise and relevant query results.

Contract lifecycle management is both a process and a technology solution for managing the entire contract life cycle. CLM tools help businesses manage third-party agreements, such as outsourcing, procurement, sales, non-disclosure, intellectual property, and leasing.

These technologies manage the process from initial drafting and negotiation to execution, performance tracking, renewal, and expiration. The use of CLM technologies in law firms can help them save time, improve operational efficiency, ensure compliance, and reduce legal risks.

An ideal example of a CLM solution is Icertis. This SaaS platform uses AI to manage complex contract portfolios. Icertis provides legal software features for contract creation, risk assessment, and obligation tracking. Business teams also use it to ensure a consistent format across all agreements.

In 2024, 77% of individuals aged 16-74 in the EU reported using the Internet within the past 12 months to order goods or services. This growing reliance on online platforms extends beyond retail. For example, many businesses and individuals use legal marketplaces to connect with lawyers or legal service providers based on their specific needs, practice areas, and geographic location. Such platforms provide a wide range of features helping users to find relevant legal assistance fast.

Some common legal marketplace features include searchable directories, client reviews, CV management functionality for law practitioners, and tools for scheduling consultations.

Numerous legal marketplace solutions offer advanced matchmaking mechanics powered by intelligent filters and ML-driven profile-matching algorithms. These solutions also include secure communication tools that help customers find the most relevant legal specialists.

We at Leobit had a successful experience in building a legal marketplace for an ambitious startup. Our team developed a service that connects users with attorneys for online legal consultations. In addition to smart search and matching mechanics, the platform provides features for case management, legal terminology recognition, and documentation storage. Ultimately, this software solution secured an $875,000 investment for the client.

In the post-COVID era, more and more legal processes transition from the courtroom to online. To highlight this fact, it is worth noting that the European Union’s ODR platform receives between 2 and 3 million visitors per year. The point is that many individuals and businesses view online dispute resolution as a more accessible and cost-effective way of settling legal conflicts.

ODR platforms are widely used for handling small claims and arbitration, where the complexity and cost of traditional litigation may be disproportionate. Such solutions may include a wide range of features, such as functionality for video conferencing, automated document exchange, and real-time communication. In addition, ODR platforms work efficiently when it comes to settling cross-border legal agreements.

One of the most notable legal software examples with ODR capabilities is FairClaims. This SaaS solution enables users to handle small claims online, featuring functionality for document sharing, video hearings, and case management. Primarily focused on smaller cases, FairClaims helps businesses worldwide resolve disputes without the need for a courtroom appearance.

As the legal domain faces growing regulatory and compliance demands, such as the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, ISO/IEC 27001, and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, businesses increasingly require support to ensure adherence. Legal software designed for compliance helps businesses navigate complex regulations, monitor ongoing compliance, and conduct audits with greater ease.

These tools provide automated alerts, audit trails, and real-time monitoring. They help companies comply with different regulations and standards, whether domain-specific or general. Legal teams use such software for quick information searches and compliance audits that help them meet both local and global regulatory requirements.

For example, NAVEX Global offers a compliance management platform that provides tools for policy management, compliance training, and ethics reporting. The solution also involves third-party integrations, enhancing its risk management capabilities. By offering a suite of compliance-oriented features, NAVEX Global’s platform helps businesses minimize risk and foster a culture of compliance awareness among their employees.

Overall, these are just some common use cases for legal software across the law field and other domains. This list can be expanded with other examples, such as tools for streamlined invoicing that exist on the verge of the legaltech and fintech domains.

The legaltech market offers a wide range of off-the-shelf solutions, typically delivered as SaaS platforms through paid subscriptions. While these tools can meet basic needs, different companies often have unique functionality requirements shaped by their specific workflows, jurisdiction, and domain regulations. In the long term, custom software development for legaltech may be a more profitable and strategic choice thanks to greater feature customization and the ability to adapt to evolving business demands.

The table below compares off-the-shelf and custom legal technology solutions across their most critical aspects.

Despite the many benefits of developing custom software for legal services, the demand for off-the-shelf legaltech solutions remains high. This is evidenced by the market’s compound annual growth rate of 12.8%. This presents an opportunity for legaltech companies to build SaaS platforms that cater to the needs of legal professionals.

Leobit is ready to help you handle application development for the legal industry. We have strong technology expertise and a profound knowledge of domain-specific challenges, regulations, and trends.

Our portfolio includes several custom legal software development projects, such as:

• Legaltech solution for civil and criminal case management
• Legal case management platform
• Lawyer marketplace with legaltech business process visualization.

Whether you need to develop a custom legaltech solution tailored to your business-specific needs or want to build a SaaS application for a broad business audience, we at Leobit are ready to assist.

Legal software transforms how legal workflows are handled within the law industry and beyond. Modern legaltech solutions can bring businesses a wide array of tangible benefits, from streamlining routine tasks and managing complex documentation to enhancing compliance and enabling AI-driven analysis.

In particular, legal software can provide automation for routine workflows, enhance documentation and evidence management, support legal operations with agentic AI algorithms, and facilitate legal research. In addition, such solutions help companies manage contract life cycles, select the most appropriate legal service providers, resolve disputes online, manage compliance and risks, and many more. While many of such use cases may be partially covered with off-the-shelf software, custom legaltech development allows you to get a more tailored solution. In addition, you can meet the demand for legal software by launching a SaaS legaltech platform.

Whether you want to build a custom solution tailored to your business needs or a SaaS application provided to your clients, Leobit is ready to help. With our extensive expertise in legal software development services, Leobit is well-positioned to support companies on their journey toward more efficient and secure legal operations.

Contact us to explore how we can help you build a legaltech solution tailored to your specific needs.