How to Operationalize Legal Intake–Triage to Unblock the Business

How to Operationalize Legal Intake–Triage to Unblock the Business

If 40–60% of inbound legal asks are repeatable, why are your attorneys still triaging them by hand? For many in‑house teams, intake is where speed, risk, and reputation collide. Without structure, requests leak through Slack threads, email chains, or ad‑hoc portals. Work stalls, business partners escalate, and legal becomes the bottleneck it never wanted to be. The opportunity is clear: operationalize intake and triage so the right work hits the right lane at the right time—automatically.

Sandstone was built for this moment. By turning playbooks, positions, and approvals into a living knowledge layer, Sandstone’s AI agents validate requests, auto‑route, and answer from policy—so every interaction compounds institutional knowledge instead of disappearing.

Diagnose the Intake–Triage Problem (Before You Automate)

You can’t automate what you can’t define. Start by mapping where requests originate, how they’re qualified, and where they stall. Most friction traces back to missing context, inconsistent routing, and unclear service levels.

- Inventory request types: NDAs, vendor reviews, marketing claims, DPAs, sales contracts.

- Capture required fields per type: counterparty, region, data flows, deal size, deadlines.

- Identify current paths: email, Slack, portal, ticketing; note handoffs and delays.

- Flag risk gates: privacy, export controls, revenue thresholds, publicity claims.

Pro tip: Spend one week tagging inbound messages. You’ll see patterns in 72 hours—often that a handful of request types dominate volume.

Design a Tiered Workflow With Clear SLAs and RACI

Structure beats heroics. Define who does what, and how fast, per tier. Introduce RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) and SLAs (Service Level Agreements) that reflect business impact and risk.

- Tier 0: Self‑serve answers from playbooks and clause libraries; instant response.

- Tier 1: Low‑risk, repeatable work (e.g., mutual NDA) handled by legal ops or AI‑assisted paralegals within 1 business day.

- Tier 2: Moderate complexity (e.g., standard vendor with privacy addendum) within 3 business days.

- Tier 3: High‑risk or strategic matters (e.g., novel terms, regulatory exposure) prioritized by counsel.

Example: Marketing claims requests route to Tier 1 with pre‑approved claim types; anything implying comparative superiority jumps to Tier 3 counsel review.

Automate With AI Agents, Not More Forms

Forms alone don’t fix context or quality. AI agents embedded in intake transform static forms into dynamic interviews that adapt to the request. Sandstone’s agents validate inputs, surface definitions, and apply your policy logic in real time.

- Validate completeness: Block submission until required facts (e.g., data transfer regions) are captured.

- Auto‑classify: Detect request type, risk tier, and jurisdiction from natural language.

- Recommend paths: Offer self‑serve answers or ready‑to‑send templates when policy supports it.

- Route and escalate: Push Tier 2–3 matters to the right queue with enriched context.

- Log the record: Write a structured ticket that feeds reporting and future automation.

Tip: Start with one or two high‑volume workflows—NDAs or standard vendor reviews. Let agents answer from your playbooks, then watch your queue shrink.

Measure What Matters and Run a 30‑Day Pilot

Dashboards beat anecdotes. Set KPIs that reflect speed, quality, and risk posture. Then run a focused pilot to prove value and tune the model.

- Time to first response: Aim for <1 hour on Tier 0–1, same day on Tier 2.

- Cycle time by tier: Track median and 90th percentile; highlight outliers.

- Deflection rate: % of requests resolved without attorney touch.

- Rework/error rate: How often matters bounce back for missing info.

- Business satisfaction: Quick pulse survey at close.

30‑Day Pilot Plan:

- Weeks 1–2: Stand up Sandstone intake for NDAs and standard vendor reviews; import playbooks.

- Week 3: Enable AI agents to validate, classify, and route; switch on self‑serve responses.

- Week 4: Review KPIs, adjust fields and rules, and expand to a third workflow.

Checklist: Publish SLAs and RACI in your intake portal so business partners know what to expect and when.

The Sandstone Advantage: Strength Through Layers, Natural Integration

Great intake doesn’t force behavior change—it meets teams where they already work. Sandstone integrates with Slack, Teams, email, and your ticketing system. Every request becomes layered data: who asked, what was decided, which clauses applied, and why. Over time, your positions harden from “tribal knowledge” into a trusted operating system.

- Layered data: Each decision enriches the next, improving recommendations.

- Crafted precision: Workflows reflect your exact processes and risk tolerances.

- Natural integration: Business partners use familiar channels; legal gains structure.

Actionable takeaway: Pick one workflow and launch a 30‑day, agent‑assisted intake pilot. Measure deflection, cycle time, and satisfaction. If you don’t see a 25–40% reduction in attorney touches, recalibrate the playbook and required fields—then scale.

Closing: Make Intake the Bedrock of Trust and Growth

Operationalized intake turns legal from reactive support into proactive acceleration. With Sandstone’s knowledge layer and AI agents, every triage strengthens your foundation—speeding routine work, reducing risk, and earning trust across the business. Ready to see the playbooks, positions, and workflows your team already knows become instantly actionable? See how it works.