The 5 Most Common Legal Ops Problems (And How Teams Are Actually Solving Them)

As the financial year wraps up, legal teams are under familiar pressure: higher volumes of work, tighter budgets, and rising expectations from the business.

But this year, something else is also happening.

Many in-house teams are using this period to fix the operational issues that have been draining time and causing bottlenecks all year (or years, in many cases). Some are allocating remaining FY25 budget to do it now. Others are planning smarter for FY26.

The common thread? Legal leaders want systems that actually get used — tools that reduce admin, provide real-time visibility, and embed into their existing Microsoft 365 environment without a six-month rollout or another round of training.

So, here are five things legal teams are choosing to fix — and how Cubed is helping make those changes simple.

1. Too many legal requests still come in via email or chat

For many teams, legal requests still come in through email, chat, or informal conversations. There’s no standard intake. No centralised tracking. And no way to know whether the right person is across the right thing at the right time.

To fix this, teams are standardising intake. That means using structured request forms to capture the right information, assign the right person, and track the request from day one.

For teams using Cubed, this is often the first fix. Legal requests come in via an Intake Form and are automatically linked to matters — all inside Microsoft 365.

2. Admin tasks are taking up too much time

Filing emails, updating trackers, chasing internal approvals — these are still part of daily life for many in-house lawyers. And they add up.

Teams using Cubed are replacing these tasks with simple automations — like auto-filing emails to the right matter, sending alerts for upcoming contract deadlines, or creating status dashboards without needing a spreadsheet.

3. Legal teams can’t report effectively without real-time data

When legal is asked to report on performance, the answer usually takes hours to compile  — often relying on spreadsheets, estimates or anecdotal summaries.

But most of that data already exists. It’s just not being captured in a way that’s visible or accessible.

Cubed tracks matter types, turnaround times, contract milestones and workload distribution automatically — and presents the results in live dashboards through Power BI. That means legal teams can answer questions on the spot, not at the end of the month.

4. Contract files are still scattered across inboxes and shared drives

Even in mature legal teams, it’s common for contracts to sit in shared drives, separated from the emails, advice and decisions that shaped them. When those matters are revisited months later — or passed to someone new — that lack of context becomes a risk.

Cubed links contracts to related contracts and matters, stores documentation securely in SharePoint, and provides full visibility over version history, approvals, and commercial milestones. It’s one system, structured clearly, and available to the whole team.

5. Legal tech is being replaced if it’s not being used

Underused software is one of the biggest drains on legal team budgets.

One study from the University of Melbourne found that lack of platform integration, training, and support are key barriers to legal tech adoption, with many legal teams struggling to implement new tools effectively. Without seamless integration, even the best technology risks being left unused.

Cubed was built to avoid those issues entirely. It runs inside Microsoft 365. There’s no new infrastructure, no third-party data storage, and no per-user pricing. It can be deployed in a day — and used immediately.

Whether you’re closing out this financial year or planning the next — the opportunity is the same

Legal teams don’t need transformation. They need a system that supports the way they already work — and removes the drag points that slow them down.

Whether you’re allocating remaining tech budget for FY25, or preparing for a more streamlined FY26, Cubed offers a clear pathway: Centralised intake. Clear matter tracking. Seamless contract management. Live reporting. All inside the systems you already trust.

Book a demo to see Cubed in action today.