The Top 5 AI Agent Use Cases in Matter Management for…

The Top 5 AI Agent Use Cases in Matter Management for In‑House Legal Teams

Legal teams don’t miss SLAs because they’re careless—they miss them because work hides in email, metadata is incomplete, and priorities change without a signal. The fastest-growing teams have one thing in common: they treat matter management like a product. With AI agents layered into intake, triage, and review, your legal ops function moves from reactive support to a proactive system that compounds knowledge and speed.

Sandstone was built for this: layered data, modular workflows, and an AI-powered knowledge layer that adapts to how your team already works. Below are five agent-driven workflows that deliver outsized impact fast.

Centralized Intake and Auto‑Triage

What’s happening: Requests spill in through email and Slack, key fields are missing, and lawyers become routers instead of advisors.

Why it matters: Without a single front door, you can’t prioritize, enforce SLAs, or create a reliable audit trail.

Signals

Frequent “What’s the status?” pings
Duplicate or misrouted matters
SLA misses and inconsistent metadata

How to fix

Stand up a self-serve intake portal with required fields and templates
Use an AI agent to normalize data, detect type (NDA, dispute, privacy), and auto-route by rules and capacity
Sync with Slack/Teams to capture requests but log them centrally; create an instant, searchable record

Quick win: Start with your top three request types (e.g., NDA, vendor review, marketing approval) and require business-friendly fields.

SLA Guardrails and Live Status

What’s happening: Work moves, but status doesn’t. Deadlines get buried; escalations arrive too late.

Why it matters: If your team can’t see matter status at a glance, you can’t prioritize or hit SLAs.

Signals

Silent matters for days
Surprise escalations from sales or finance
Unclear ownership when lawyers are out

How to fix

Define SLA timers by matter type and phase
Let an AI agent nudge assignees, reassign on capacity, and auto-update status based on activity
Surface a live dashboard with time-to-assign, at-risk matters, and aging by phase

Quick win: Add a “dormant matter” rule—if nothing happens for 5 business days, ping the owner and escalate to a channel summary.

Playbook‑Powered Contract Review

What’s happening: Attorneys re-argue settled positions, and deviations slip through because guidance lives in wikis, not workflows.

Why it matters: Cycle times stretch, positions drift, and risk increases when exceptions aren’t logged.

Signals

Inconsistent fallback clauses
Excessive redlines on routine agreements
Exceptions tracked in spreadsheets (or not at all)

How to fix

Convert playbooks into machine‑readable rules and clause libraries
Use an AI agent to pre-review drafts, propose redlines aligned to your positions, and flag exceptions for human review
Auto-create an exceptions log and feed approved outcomes back into the playbook

Quick win: Start with high-volume templates (NDAs, vendor MSAs). Let the agent handle first-pass redlines and route red-flags to counsel.

Outside Counsel Guardrails and Spend Hygiene

What’s happening: Matters open without clear budgets, invoices don’t match guidelines, and accruals arrive late.

Why it matters: Unchecked outside counsel spend erodes credibility and strains business partnerships.

Signals

Budget overruns and after-the-fact approvals
Non-compliant timekeepers or rates
Missing or late accruals

How to fix

Require matter budgets at intake; enforce rate cards and OCGs with an AI agent that checks invoices line-by-line
Trigger approvals for scope changes; auto‑notify finance on accruals
Track budget burn and variance in a shared dashboard

Quick win: Auto-reject non-compliant invoice entries (blocked billing codes, unapproved timekeepers) and request corrections automatically.

Knowledge Capture and Reuse

What’s happening: Decisions live in email threads; the same questions resurface each quarter.

Why it matters: Institutional knowledge should compound, not disappear. Reuse shortens cycles and reduces risk.

Signals

Repeated “Has anyone seen a clause for X?” questions
Post-matter insights lost in decks
New hires take months to ramp on norms

How to fix

On close, have an AI agent draft a 5-bullet summary: risk call, final position, key deviations, owner, artifacts
Auto-tag matters with taxonomy (product, region, counterparty) and link to playbooks and prior decisions
Surface “similar matters” and answers at intake to prevent rework

Quick win: Standardize a 10-minute post-matter debrief the agent can summarize and publish to your knowledge hub.

Actionable next step: Run a two‑week pilot. Pick one workflow (intake or NDAs), map required fields, write routing rules, and let an AI agent handle first pass. Measure time‑to‑assign, % complete metadata, and SLA adherence before/after.

Sandstone ties these layers together—intake, SLAs, playbooks, outside counsel, and knowledge—so each request, triage, and decision strengthens your legal foundation. Crafted precision, natural integration. When matter management runs on a living, AI‑powered operating system, legal becomes the connective tissue of the business: faster cycles, clearer alignment, and deeper trust.

Ready to see it in action? Get a demo.

Actionable next step: Run a two‑week pilot. Pick one workflow (intake or NDAs), map required fields, write routing rules, and let an AI agent handle first pass. Measure time‑to‑assign, % complete metadata, and SLA adherence before/after.

Ready to see it in action? Get a demo.

What’s happening: Requests spill in through email and Slack, key fields are missing, and lawyers become routers instead of advisors.

Why it matters: Without a single front door, you can’t prioritize, enforce SLAs, or create a reliable audit trail.

Signals

How to fix

Quick win: Start with your top three request types (e.g., NDA, vendor review, marketing approval) and require business-friendly fields.

What’s happening: Work moves, but status doesn’t. Deadlines get buried; escalations arrive too late.

Why it matters: If your team can’t see matter status at a glance, you can’t prioritize or hit SLAs.

Signals

How to fix

Quick win: Add a “dormant matter” rule—if nothing happens for 5 business days, ping the owner and escalate to a channel summary.

What’s happening: Attorneys re-argue settled positions, and deviations slip through because guidance lives in wikis, not workflows.

Why it matters: Cycle times stretch, positions drift, and risk increases when exceptions aren’t logged.

Signals

How to fix

Quick win: Start with high-volume templates (NDAs, vendor MSAs). Let the agent handle first-pass redlines and route red-flags to counsel.

What’s happening: Matters open without clear budgets, invoices don’t match guidelines, and accruals arrive late.

Why it matters: Unchecked outside counsel spend erodes credibility and strains business partnerships.

Signals

How to fix

Quick win: Auto-reject non-compliant invoice entries (blocked billing codes, unapproved timekeepers) and request corrections automatically.

What’s happening: Decisions live in email threads; the same questions resurface each quarter.

Why it matters: Institutional knowledge should compound, not disappear. Reuse shortens cycles and reduces risk.

Signals

How to fix

Quick win: Standardize a 10-minute post-matter debrief the agent can summarize and publish to your knowledge hub.

Actionable next step: Run a two‑week pilot. Pick one workflow (intake or NDAs), map required fields, write routing rules, and let an AI agent handle first pass. Measure time‑to‑assign, % complete metadata, and SLA adherence before/after.

About Jarryd Strydom

What’s happening: Requests spill in through email and Slack, key fields are missing, and lawyers become routers instead of advisors.

Why it matters: Without a single front door, you can’t prioritize, enforce SLAs, or create a reliable audit trail.

Signals

How to fix

Quick win: Start with your top three request types (e.g., NDA, vendor review, marketing approval) and require business-friendly fields.

What’s happening: Work moves, but status doesn’t. Deadlines get buried; escalations arrive too late.

Why it matters: If your team can’t see matter status at a glance, you can’t prioritize or hit SLAs.

Signals

How to fix

Quick win: Add a “dormant matter” rule—if nothing happens for 5 business days, ping the owner and escalate to a channel summary.

What’s happening: Attorneys re-argue settled positions, and deviations slip through because guidance lives in wikis, not workflows.

Why it matters: Cycle times stretch, positions drift, and risk increases when exceptions aren’t logged.

Signals

How to fix

Quick win: Start with high-volume templates (NDAs, vendor MSAs). Let the agent handle first-pass redlines and route red-flags to counsel.

What’s happening: Matters open without clear budgets, invoices don’t match guidelines, and accruals arrive late.

Why it matters: Unchecked outside counsel spend erodes credibility and strains business partnerships.

Signals

How to fix

Quick win: Auto-reject non-compliant invoice entries (blocked billing codes, unapproved timekeepers) and request corrections automatically.

What’s happening: Decisions live in email threads; the same questions resurface each quarter.

Why it matters: Institutional knowledge should compound, not disappear. Reuse shortens cycles and reduces risk.

Signals

How to fix

Quick win: Standardize a 10-minute post-matter debrief the agent can summarize and publish to your knowledge hub.

Actionable next step: Run a two‑week pilot. Pick one workflow (intake or NDAs), map required fields, write routing rules, and let an AI agent handle first pass. Measure time‑to‑assign, % complete metadata, and SLA adherence before/after.

About Jarryd Strydom