20 Feb 2025

GenAI for legal teams: A smarter way to manage legal spend with continuous data

For the past decade, legal teams have accepted a frustrating reality: you only know there's a spending problem after it's too late to fix it. We review spend when invoices land, spot issues after costs have spiralled, and scramble to explain overruns to finance teams. Everyone knows this approach isn't working, but it's been the only option available.

Until now.

The combination of GenAI and continuous data is about to change how legal teams think about spend management. This isn't just another tech upgrade–it's a major shift in when and how we can control legal costs.

Consider what's happening at firms using platforms like Apperio Insights:

✅Teams spot and manage costs while work is still in progress
✅AI flags potential issues before they impact budgets
✅Legal and finance work from the same real-time data

This article explores why this matters, what it means for legal teams, and how it's already transforming the way forward-thinking legal departments manage their spending.

Breaking down data barriers: Why natural language matters

Let's be honest about a painful truth in legal operations: getting basic information about spending shouldn't require an advanced degree in data analytics. But that's exactly where many legal departments find themselves today - stuck between waiting for finance teams to run reports or learning how to write complex database queries themselves.

It's an absurd situation, when you think about it. Legal professionals who can handle multi-million dollar transactions and complex litigation are forced to wait days for simple answers about their own spending.

GenAI applied to continuous spend data is finally fixing this disconnect.

With conversational analytics, anyone can ask straightforward questions and get immediate answers:

"How much did we spend with Firm X last month?"
"What were our total writedowns from our top 10 firms?"
"Show me how much this type of work typically costs across all my different firms"

No more waiting for finance to run reports. No more Excel gymnastics. Just clear answers when you need them.

The implications of this shift are bigger than most people realize:

Every stakeholder can now engage with spending data directly
Decisions happen in minutes instead of weeks
Legal, finance, and leadership finally work from the same information

When everyone can access and understand spending data directly, conversations shift from "can you run a report" to "here's what we need to do next”.

The trouble is, some know there is a better way but face the same issue when trying to fix it…

The integration problem: Why GenAI for legal teams must fit into existing workflows

Here's another reality check from the world of legal operations: legal teams are already drowning in software. They jump between platforms to manage cases, track spending, and work with finance. The last thing they need is another standalone system to monitor.

Yet that's exactly what most spend management solutions offer–one more login, one more dashboard, one more place to check for updates.

It's time for a different approach.

Think about how your team actually works. They're in Slack discussing matters, using Salesforce to track relationships, and managing workflows in ServiceNow. What if your legal spend data lived there too?

That's what makes platforms like Apperio Insights AI different. Instead of creating another silo, they bring spending data directly into your existing tools:

Teams get updates where they're already working–no platform switching required
Leaders can ask "How much did we spend with Jones & Co last quarter?" right in their usual workspace
Legal teams see real-time data without waiting for manual reports or reconciliation

The message is simple: your spend data should live where your work happens, not in yet another system you have to remember to check.

The real cost of finding out too late

We've all been there: an invoice lands on your desk showing spending way over budget. Your stomach drops. Now comes the awkward conversation with finance, the difficult call with the law firm, and the inevitable question: "How did we not see this coming?"

This reactive approach to spend management isn't just frustrating–it's fundamentally broken.

Think about it: by the time you're looking at an invoice, those costs are already locked in. All you can do is negotiate a write-down or adjust future budgets. Neither option addresses the real problem.

GenAI for legal teams is changing this by spotting issues while you can still do something about them:

Set smart alerts that flag when WIP or accruals cross your comfort threshold
Get early warnings about potential issues like:
- Sudden increases in billable time across matters
- Unusual patterns in fee earner staffing
Identify which matters might work better under fixed fees instead of hourly billing

When you can see potential issues while work is in progress, everything changes. Legal teams aren't just managing surprises anymore–they're preventing them.

No more Monday morning invoice surprises. No more explaining unexpected overruns to finance. Just clear visibility into what's happening with your matters while the work is still in progress.

Real results: How GenAI for legal teams solves spend management challenges

Let's cut through the hype for a moment. When we talk about AI in legal spend management, we're not discussing some far-off future. These solutions are already making a difference in legal departments right now.

Here's what's actually happening in legal teams using AI-powered insights:

Budget overruns are getting caught early–teams spot unusual WIP increases before they show up on invoices
Planning is becoming more precise–instead of guessing what the next quarter might look like, AI projects spending patterns based on actual data
Law firm selection is getting smarter–teams can finally see which firms deliver the best value per hour, making fee negotiations more informed

Most importantly, legal teams are shifting from the familiar pattern of "react and explain" to actually staying ahead of their spending.

These aren't small improvements. When you can spot issues early, predict spending patterns, and understand firm performance clearly, the whole dynamic of legal spend management changes.

Legal teams aren't just tracking costs anymore–they're controlling them.

The end of spreadsheet detective work

Let's be honest: no General Counsel or Chief Legal Officer should spend their evenings piecing together spending trends from spreadsheets. Yet that's exactly what happens when teams wait for month-end reports to understand their own data.

It's 2025. We can do better than this.

Modern platforms like Apperio Insights are finally bringing legal spend analysis into the present, giving leadership teams the insights they actually need:

Real-time visibility into what's happening with matter costs and firm performance - no more waiting for monthly summaries after the invoice has arrived
Clear comparisons show how spending patterns change over time, making it obvious which firms deliver the best value
Smart suggestions about where to focus attention, instead of having to dig through endless reports

Think about what this means for leadership teams. Instead of spending hours reconciling numbers and chasing updates, they can focus on the decisions that really matter.

When leaders have immediate access to reliable spending data, conversations shift from "what happened?" to "what should we do next?" or “why did it happen?”.

Security and trust: Why GenAI for legal teams needs transparency and control

Here's the elephant in the room when it comes to AI in legal spend management: all the smart analytics in the world mean nothing if you can't trust the numbers. Without reliability, transparency, and control, AI insights risk becoming just another layer of complexity rather than a meaningful tool for decision-making.

Many legal teams are rightfully cautious about AI. They've heard horror stories about black-box algorithms and unexplainable decisions.

This is where the foundation matters. Apperio Insights takes a clear stance on this:

Bank-grade security protecting your spend data at every step
Humans stay in control–every AI insight can be validated and refined by the teams using them
Complete transparency about how conclusions are reached - no mysterious algorithms making unexplainable decisions

Think about it this way: AI isn't replacing your judgment–it's giving you better information to make decisions with. But that only works if you can trust what you're seeing.

When your AI platform is built on reliable data and transparent processes, you can move from asking "can we trust this?" to "what should we do about it?".

GenAI for legal teams: Moving firms forward with smarter spend management

Legal teams can no longer afford to rely on backwards-looking spend analysis—by the time an invoice lands, it's too late to take meaningful action.

The industry has accepted this limitation for far too long.

Apperio’s GenAI is finally giving legal teams the forward-looking view they need. By acting on continuous legal spend management a reality, Apperio Insights AI enables teams to:

✅Ask questions in plain language and get immediate answers
✅See spending updates right in the tools you use every day, like Slack and Salesforce
✅Catch potential issues before they impact your budget
✅Understand spending patterns and trends before they affect your bottom line
✅Give leadership the insights they need to make informed decisions quickly

There's an old saying in legal spend management: the best time to control costs was when the work started. The second best time is now.

Want to see what proactive spend management looks like in practice?

Author:

Chris Perry

VP Sales