How firms can improve document control without slowing work down
Miles Osborne, director of customer success (global) at Bundledocs, explores how law firms can enhance document control without compromising on efficiency
There is a long-standing assumption in many law firms that control measures, such as file permissions and review steps, make for slower processes.
It is easy to understand this thinking. Modern governance can mean more checkpoints and more process. Measures designed to reduce risk can, in practice, create friction. The result is that firms often feel they are managing a trade-off between control and efficiency.
When matters are straightforward, traditional systems can work well. However, as legal work becomes more collaborative, distributed and time-sensitive, that model comes under pressure.
The Thomson Reuters Institute’s 2024 Report on the State of the UK Legal Market notes that UK corporate clients are increasingly focused on efficiency and technology, and that most welcome further use of technology to drive efficiency. Today, many firms are closely examining how document control works in practice. The question is no longer simply how to add safeguards, but how to maintain accuracy, visibility and accountability without creating unnecessary delays.
Where document control starts to break down
Document control problems often begin with process. A typical example is the number of handovers involved in preparing and reviewing legal documents. A draft is prepared, shared for input, revised, circulated and then manually reconciled. Each stage may seem manageable in isolation, but together they create opportunity for unnecessary delays.
When multiple copies of a document circulate by email or shared folder, it becomes challenging to identify which reflects the latest changes. Reviewers may comment on outdated drafts, with one person often left to consolidate edits manually. This creates administrative burden, making it harder to maintain a clear view of which version should be treated as authoritative.
Why stronger control does not have to mean slower work
The issue is often framed as a choice between tighter governance and efficient workflows. But well-structured document control should reduce friction rather than add to it. It should make it easier to understand who has access, what activity has taken place and where responsibility sits at each stage of review.
Guidance from the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) on cloud security states that organisations should be able to apply granular access control according to the principle of least privilege and manage permissions clearly at scale. As more contributors become involved in reviewing documents, firms need ways to involve the right people without exposing unnecessary content.
Control within the workflow
As matters become more complex, traditional document control becomes less effective. A more resilient approach is to build control into the workflow itself, so that visibility and accountability are maintained as documents move through review rather than checked retrospectively.
That starts with ensuring contributors are working from the same live material. It also means having clearer structures around access, commentary and version history. The International Bar Association’s 2024 report, The Future is Now: Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession, highlights the importance of consistency, coherence, transparency and accountability as technology becomes more embedded in legal work.
Why this matters more now
The need for better document control is becoming more pressing for two reasons. First, legal work is increasingly collaborative, with input more likely to come from multiple stakeholders across functions, offices or organisations.
Second, firms are under greater pressure and responsibility to handle client information securely and responsibly. The Law Society’s cyber security guidance for solicitors notes that legal professionals hold sensitive, confidential and valuable data, and that the right cyber security measures help maintain client trust and support legal and regulatory compliance. In that context, document control is no longer just an administrative issue. It sits at the intersection of productivity, risk management and client confidence.
Reducing friction without losing oversight
Improving document control does not necessarily mean adding more process. In many cases, it reduces unnecessary process by limiting duplicate versions, reducing manual handovers, tightening access permissions or making document activity more visible throughout the lifecycle of a matter.
Firms that improve document control most effectively are often those that make collaboration easier to manage, not those that simply make it more restrictive.
Control as an operational capability
There is a tendency to treat document control as a back-end issue: necessary, but secondary to the substance of legal work. Increasingly, that is not the case. Control is part of how legal work is delivered. It affects how quickly teams can respond, how confidently they can collaborate and how effectively they can manage the risks that come with more complex matters.
Law firms do not need to choose between control and speed. But they do need workflows that support both. The firms that will manage this best are not the ones adding the greatest number of restrictions. They are the ones designing ways of working where access is clearer, collaboration is more structured and visibility is built into the process from the outset.
