Last Updated on June 27, 2025 Sarah Gayda
Monthly Industry Trends & Insights From Colligo CEO Tim Brady
A trend we’ve been tracking for quite some time is accelerating: corporate legal and in-house counsel are rapidly adopting Microsoft 365—particularly SharePoint—as their Document Management System (DMS). The data is clear, and the market movement is undeniable.
Historically, legal departments either relied on expensive, third-party legacy DMS platforms or simply defaulted to using email inboxes as informal repositories. Today, that’s changing.
What’s Driving the Shift?
Three key factors are fueling this migration:
- Microsoft 365 is continually becoming the enterprise standard.
As organizations broadly adopt Microsoft 365, legal teams are being encouraged—or required—to use SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive as part of a unified information management strategy. This avoids the pitfalls of creating yet another silo through legacy DMS solutions. - Compliance and cost pressures are mounting.
Regulatory demands and data governance expectations are growing. Legal departments need more than “save it wherever” practices, but many find traditional DMS systems cost-prohibitive or cumbersome. The result? A renewed evaluation of more integrated, affordable solutions. - SharePoint delivers—but it needs a partner.
While SharePoint offers excellent storage, lifecycle management, and collaboration capabilities, it doesn’t meet legal end-users where they work. Lawyers and legal assistants need seamless email management that works with their existing Outlook workflows—not around them.
What Do Legal Professionals Actually Want?
The daily needs of in-house counsel are straightforward—but often unmet:
— Legal IT Director, Colligo Customer
- Save emails and attachments to SharePoint directly from Outlook.
- Retrieve documents and emails quickly—without app-switching.
- File outbound emails to the appropriate SharePoint folder while sending.
- Use tags or metadata to organize documents by matter or case.
These aren’t “nice to haves.” They’re core requirements for productivity and compliance.
The Data Supports the Direction
During our legal-focused webinar last year, 48% of attendees reported using SharePoint as their legal content repository. Only 15% were using a traditional legal DMS. The message is clear: SharePoint is becoming the default.
Colligo: The Middleware That Makes SharePoint Work for Legal
That’s where Colligo comes in.
— Corporate Counsel, Financial Services
Our solution acts as the critical middleware between Outlook—the hub of legal communication—and SharePoint or Teams—the enterprise repositories. We eliminate friction and bring the power of Microsoft 365 directly to legal users.
A standout feature? Colligo Email Auto-File, which enables legal teams to sync Outlook folders with SharePoint, turning a tedious chore into a simple, automated workflow. For many, it’s a game-changer.
Real-World Impact
Our customers are already seeing results:
These aren’t hypothetical benefits—they’re real efficiency gains for teams under increasing pressure to do more with less.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Colligo. Think of them as ‘strong opinions, loosely held.’ Proceed with curiosity and a sense of humour!
