Introduction

Legal departments play a critical role in managing risk, ensuring regulatory compliance and supporting strategic decision-making. However, many legal teams grapple with the issue of missing or incomplete documents, which slows down contract cycles, increases audit risk and drains legal productivity. This case study explores how one mid-sized enterprise successfully transformed its Legal department’s document management process using DMS+, resulting in measurable productivity improvements.

Challenges

The Legal team faced the following key issues:

Missing Documents

• Critical contracts, amendments and compliance documents were often misplaced or not uploaded to the central repository.
• 25% of agreements lacked supporting annexures or approvals during internal audits.

Manual Tracking and Reminders

• Document follow-ups and chasing other departments for missing paperwork consumed 3–4 hours per employee weekly.

Audit and Compliance Risk

• Incomplete records exposed the company to legal non-compliance during audits.

Poor Version Control

• No clarity on final vs. draft versions; frequent miscommunication with external legal counsel.

Solution: Implementing DMS+ with the Missing Document Tracker

The organization implemented DMS+, which included the Missing Document Module, a feature specifically designed to identify, flag and follow up on incomplete legal records.

Key Features Deployed:

• Centralized Legal Repository: All documents (contracts, licenses, NDAs, compliance records) were stored in a structured folder taxonomy with role-based access.

• Missing Document Tracker: Automatically flagged missing or overdue documents in workflows and sent smart reminders.

• Audit Trail and Version Control: Maintained a chronological record of document edits, approvals and finalizations.

• Workflow Automation: Enabled routing of legal documents to responsible parties for review and upload.

Results Achieved

45% Reduction in Document Retrieval Time

• Lawyers no longer spend hours searching emails or file shares.
• Average time to retrieve a contract dropped from 35 minutes to under 10 minutes.

70% Decrease in Missing Document Incidents

• Within 3 months, the missing documents per contract file dropped from 1.8 to 0.5 on average.
• Automated reminders helped ensure submission of related annexures and approvals.

Saved 8+ Hours per Week per Legal Executive

• Time previously spent on chasing documentation was redirected to higher-value tasks like contract negotiation and legal risk analysis.

100% Audit Readiness

• The legal department passed two consecutive internal audits without a single document compliance flag.

Improved Cross-Department Collaboration

• Procurement, Finance and HR teams were aligned on document responsibilities with visibility into what was missing or pending.

Why It Worked

• Automation Over Manual Chase: Removing manual follow-ups freed up legal bandwidth.
• Accountability: Smart dashboards assigned responsibility to document owners.
• Pre-emptive Alerts: Teams were warned about gaps before legal reviews or audits.
• Cross-functional Visibility: Non-legal teams could proactively see and submit required files.

Conclusion

By implementing a smart document management solution with a dedicated missing document feature, the Legal department turned a chronic pain point into a source of competitive efficiency. The result was higher productivity, reduced audit risk and faster legal turnaround, ultimately empowering the legal team to support the business more strategically.