Legal Intake ≠ CLM: Why Tools Like Ironclad Can’t Handle the Full Scope of Legal Work

It’s well known that contract lifecycle management (CLM) tools like Ironclad are great for streamlining and automating the lifecycle of contracts.  

But in-house legal teams aren’t just in charge of contracts.  

Legal department responsibilities extend far beyond contracts, including providing legal advice, managing risks, ensuring compliance, handling litigation, overseeing corporate governance, and supporting their organization's strategic objectives.

Legal intake—the process of capturing, triaging, and managing incoming requests—remains one of the most overlooked yet critical functions for modern legal departments. And unfortunately, CLM tools fall short in this area, leaving teams without the right tools to manage fragmented workflows.

In this blog, we will explore the limitations of CLM tools like Ironclad for legal intake and how Checkbox offers a more comprehensive solution to streamline legal operations (beyond simply contract management).

What are CLM Tools Designed to Do?

CLM tools like Ironclad are designed to streamline contract management by automating and simplifying workflows related to contract generation, negotiation, and execution. The main functionalities of CLM tools include:

• Automating approval workflows for contracts,

• Providing visibility into contract milestones and obligations, and

• Streamlining collaboration between legal and business teams during contract negotiations.

Gaps in CLM Tools for Legal Intake  

While CLM tools are great for optimizing contract-related processes, they don’t address the full scope of legal operations. Let’s break down the key challenges of legal intake that CLM tools fail to solve.

1. Limited Scope for Intake Management

Legal teams manage a diverse array of requests that go beyond the lifecycle of a contract, such as compliance inquiries, regulatory questions, and internal policy consultations. CLM tools like Ironclad excel at contract-related workflows but struggle to:

• Support non-contractual intake processes that don’t follow predefined templates.

• Manage ad hoc or hybrid requests that require manual intervention or cross-functional collaboration.

• Provide intake configurability that adapts to the unique and evolving needs of different teams.

This lack of flexibility forces legal teams to rely on additional tools, creating inefficiencies over time.

2. Lack of Configurability for Non-Contract Workflows

From compliance reviews to vendor disputes, legal teams require flexible tools to handle diverse workflows. However, CLM platforms often lack the customization needed to adapt to these non-contractual processes.

3. Limited Visibility Across All Legal Matters

Legal leaders need to know what their teams are working on in order to allocate resources effectively and demonstrate value to the business. CLM tools provide insights into contract workflows but don’t offer a centralized dashboard for non-contract related legal matters, leaving critical gaps in visibility.

Solution for Legal Intake and Matter Management

To close these gaps, legal teams need a tool designed to handle all aspects of their workload—not just contracts. And Checkbox’s Legal Service Hub offers a solution to this by filling the gaps left by CLM tools—empowering legal teams to manage intake, streamline workflows, and gain visibility across all legal matters.

Key Features That Set Checkbox Apart

1. Centralized Legal Intake

Checkbox consolidates all incoming requests into a single platform, no matter where they originate. Whether requests come through email, forms, or business messaging apps (i.e. Slack or Microsoft Teams), Checkbox uses AI-powered technology to automatically organize and triage them—eliminating the risk of missed tasks and manual tracking.

2. Customizable Workflows

Legal teams can use Checkbox’s no-code platform to build workflows that fit their unique processes. From compliance reviews to employee policy updates, Checkbox ensures both routine and complex tasks are handled efficiently.

3. Real-Time Matter Tracking

With a unified dashboard, teams can track every type of legal request from submission to resolution. This provides visibility into workloads, helps prioritize high-impact tasks, and enables legal teams to deliver consistent service to their clients.

4. Data-Driven Reporting

Checkbox captures data and metrics across all intake and matter management activities, allowing General Counsels (GCs) to measure performance, track KPIs, identify bottlenecks, and communicate their team’s value to business stakeholders.

Comparison for Legal Intake: Checkbox vs. Ironclad

Where Checkbox centralizes all legal requests, Ironclad remains limited to contract-related workflows. And where Checkbox allows full customization, Ironclad offers pre-built contract-centric templates. Let’s take a closer look at how Checkbox goes beyond a CLM platform such as Ironclad.

Empowering Legal Teams Beyond Contracts

As legal teams face increasing demands, it’s clear that managing contracts is only one piece of the puzzle.  

Tools like Ironclad may excel in contract lifecycle management, but they fall short when it comes to the broader needs of legal operations—particularly legal intake and matter management. Without a comprehensive solution, legal teams are left piecing together workflows with spreadsheets, emails, and disparate tools, creating inefficiencies and blind spots that hinder their ability to scale.

Unlike CLM tools, Checkbox offers a centralized platform designed to manage all legal requests—not just contracts. Its no-code automation empowers legal teams to streamline intake, create tailored workflows for any process, and gain full visibility across all matters. By reducing manual effort and increasing efficiency, Checkbox enables legal teams to focus on strategic priorities, demonstrate their value to leadership, and deliver exceptional service to the business.

So, for legal teams ready to move beyond contracts and take control of their entire workload, Checkbox is the solution that fills the gaps. It’s time to leave fragmented workflows behind and unlock the full potential of your legal team with Checkbox.

Want to learn more? Book a demo with one of our technology consultants today.