Legal teams sit at the center of risk, yet often aren’t provided the tools to manage it effectively. From regulation updates to unexpected disputes, the risks facing legal teams are increasing in volume and impact — which often leaves teams addressing problems as they arise, rather than preventing them in the first place.
This reactive stance not only strains resources but adds to the number of risks for legal teams. Take regulatory compliance, for example. Many legal teams still track obligations manually, relying on spreadsheets and scattered data. A missed update or overlooked requirement can result in costly penalties.
Organizations that invest in modern solutions designed to handle legal team risks gain a measurable edge. Centralized systems make it possible to identify risks for legal teams early, monitor them continuously, and act before they escalate.
Keep reading as we outline the most pressing risks facing legal teams today along with practical steps to address them. See how modern tools can transform how legal teams operate and protect the business.
1. Regulatory non-compliance
Regulatory compliance is a constant source of legal team risks, who face constant pressure to monitor shifting laws, industry regulations, and reporting obligations. Falling behind — even slightly — can trigger financial penalties, disrupt operations, and damage reputations.
The risks for legal teams increase as regulations grow in number and complexity. Global organizations must track updates across multiple regions, while industry-specific rules — including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in U.S. healthcare or General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in EU data privacy — add another layer of responsibility. Missing a new compliance requirement or misunderstanding its scope can result in costly fines or legal disputes.
Manual approaches to regulatory tracking — like spreadsheets or scattered email notifications — often create more problems than they solve. Without a centralized process, legal teams spend valuable time sorting through updates or chasing clarity on their impact. This fragmented effort leaves the door open to missed obligations and increases risks facing legal teams.
You can lower these risks by adopting a streamlined, proactive approach to regulatory compliance by:
- Simplify Regulatory Monitoring: Leverage tools that consolidate updates from trusted regulatory sources and highlight the ones that directly impact your business.
- Align Obligations with Policies: Map new regulatory requirements to current policies, controls, and workflows to quickly identify gaps and necessary adjustments.
- Strengthen Cross-Team Coordination: Collaborate with compliance, audit, and operational teams to ensure regulatory changes are applied consistently across all departments.
Taking a systematic approach gives legal teams the tools they need to efficiently manage legal team risks. By addressing gaps early and responding quickly to changes, they can protect the business from penalties, build confidence with stakeholders, and strategically advising the organization.
Read Our Ultimate Guide to Regulatory Compliance Software
2. Contract oversight gaps
Gaps in contract oversight present significant legal team risks, especially as organizations manage growing volumes of agreements. Contracts define responsibilities, deadlines, and penalties, making them essential to vendor relationships, client obligations, and business operations. Without proper oversight, businesses may miss deadlines, fail to meet terms, or lose opportunities to effectively renegotiate contracts.
The risks facing legal teams often arise when agreements are tracked manually through spreadsheets and emails. These outdated methods make it difficult to monitor obligations or quickly retrieve the most up-to-date terms. For instance, missing a supplier contract renewal deadline might lock the company into costly terms, while overlooking key milestones in client agreements could result in disputes or penalties.
Fragmented contract management limits visibility. Legal professionals spend valuable time searching for documents instead of identifying legal risks in business proactively. These gaps increase the chances of missed obligations and erode the legal team’s ability to provide timely, strategic guidance.
To address these risks for legal teams, businesses can:
- Centralize Contract Storage: Use a single, secure system to house agreements and streamline access.
- Automate Obligation Tracking: Set reminders for renewals, performance milestones, and key deadlines to reduce the risk of oversight.
- Standardize Processes: Introduce consistent templates and terms to simplify reviews and minimize ambiguity.
Closing oversight gaps enables legal teams to manage contracts more effectively. With clearer processes and better tools, they can reduce exposure to disputes, improve compliance, and focus their efforts on supporting business growth.
3. Inefficient litigation management
Litigation is one of the most time-consuming and costly risks for your legal team. Effectively managing disputes requires a coordinated approach across multiple stakeholders, including legal teams, external counsel, and internal departments. Without efficient systems to track cases, deadlines, and evidence, organizations risk losing control over ongoing litigation, escalating costs, and weakening their legal position.
When case information is scattered across disconnected systems, legal risks are amplified. Critical details — such as filing deadlines, court dates, and evidence records — can be missed or delayed. For example, failing to respond to a court notice on time can lead to penalties or even an automatic ruling against the business. Poor documentation management may also weaken the defense, as missing evidence or disorganized records create gaps that opposing counsel can exploit.
Litigation management challenges grow when organizations handle multiple cases at once — especially in highly regulated industries or complex business environments. Legal teams must balance strategy with administrative tasks, like tracking timelines and coordinating communication with external counsel. Inefficient workflows increase stress and limit the team’s ability to mitigate emerging risks facing legal teams.
Organizations can address these legal team risks through:
- Consolidate Details: Store every record in one shared repository to keep evidence, filings, and due dates in order, making it easier to locate documents and track progress.
- Schedule Reminders: Set automated alerts well before court appearances or filing deadlines so everyone gathers materials in time, double-checks facts, and avoids last-minute rushes.
- Clarify Communication: Outline where to share drafts, request needed information, and provide updates, removing guesswork and guiding each person’s role.
Improving litigation management reduces legal team risks, minimizes costs, and strengthens an organization’s ability to respond effectively to disputes. By creating structured processes, legal teams can focus on building stronger strategies, and maintaining compliance.
4. Insufficient data and reporting processes
Legal teams depend on accurate data to monitor risks, track trends, and inform decisions. When reporting processes are disjointed, incomplete, or manually driven, teams struggle to produce reliable information quickly. These gaps make it harder to identify risks for legal teams early, effectively prioritize resources, and demonstrate value to leadership.
The risks facing legal teams often emerge when critical data — like litigation outcomes, compliance issues, or contract milestones — is spread across multiple systems or stored in inconsistent formats. Without a centralized way to analyze this information, teams lack the full picture needed to spot emerging patterns or measure legal performance. For example, a recurring dispute might indicate gaps in contract terms, but disorganized reporting can delay its discovery until the issue escalates.
Manual reporting processes add another layer of risk. Gathering data from emails, spreadsheets, or outdated tools not only wastes time but also increases the likelihood of human error. Legal teams may present incomplete reports, miss important details, or delay key updates, limiting their ability to act proactively on legal team risks.
To strengthen data and reporting processes, organizations can:
- Catalog Case Records: File court documents, transcripts, and contracts electronically in one secure folder, labeling them by client, date, and type, cutting down the time spent searching scattered files.
- Implement Solutions to Generate Reports : Rely on software that compiles recent filings, upcoming deadlines, and assigned tasks into clear summaries.
- Examine Trends: Identify patterns in missed deadlines, recurring drafting errors, or repeated contract disputes, then adjust procedures to curb these issues before they grow.
Improved data and reporting processes allow legal teams to efficiently manage risks, allocate resources to high-priority issues, and share actionable updates with leadership. By moving away from fragmented workflows, teams can reduce risks for legal teams, improve decision-making, and position themselves as trusted advisors to the organization.
Reduce risks for legal teams with Resolver
Legal team risks don’t need to overwhelm your organization. By taking a proactive, streamlined approach, legal professionals can minimize challenges, improve efficiency, and focus on delivering meaningful value. Whether it’s managing compliance, tracking obligations, or resolving disputes, the right tools help legal teams stay ahead of the risks facing legal teams while reducing time spent on manual processes.
Resolver’s Enterprise Risk Management Software gives legal teams the visibility, structure, and automation needed to effectively manage legal risks. With centralized systems for monitoring contracts, litigation, compliance, and reporting, teams can identify issues early, take action quickly, and confidently guide the organization forward.
Turn risks for legal teams into opportunities for stronger performance. Request a no-commitment demo today to see how you can streamline processes, reduce exposure, and support your business with confidence.
