Welcome to Legal Ops Briefs—inspired by the mot-r mindset, this blog series of 3-minute reads gives in-house Legal Ops quick, operational insights. Each post will explore the tech, trends, and tactics that boost operational effectiveness and ease legal team stress—without adding to the noise.
Why LegalTech Projects Fail After Go-Live
So, your new Document Management System (DMS) is live. The vendor’s cut the ribbon, the project team’s breathing again, and everyone’s back to business. But a month later… silence. The emails slow, users revert to old habits, and your shiny new tech feels more like a shelf ornament than a transformation. You’re not alone.
The post-go-live slump is one of the most common and frustrating pitfalls for legal ops teams. And yet, it’s completely avoidable—with the right plan, mindset, and follow-through.
Recognizing the LegalTech Adoption Drop-Off
Most DMS rollouts start strong: budgets are approved, training is completed, and files are migrated. But once the implementation milestone is reached, momentum fades. Here's what that slump looks like:
System usage stagnates or drops.
Power users carry the load while others disengage.
Helpdesk tickets spike with simple “how do I…” questions.
Key features go untouched.
The root cause? A project mindset instead of a program mindset. Tech implementation isn’t an event—it’s a shift in how your team works.
3 Reasons LegalTech Fails After Implementation
1. Change Fatigue and Leadership Drop-Off
Leaders often drive implementation, but once it's “done,” their attention shifts elsewhere. Without sustained executive reinforcement, engagement wanes. Your people take cues from the top.
2. Lack of Clear Success Metrics
If you don’t define what success looks like, how do you know if the system is working? Measuring usage, adoption by department, and time-to-document retrieval is essential.
3. Training That Doesn’t Stick
Initial onboarding isn’t enough. Users need contextual, role-based learning long after go-live. Otherwise, they’ll fall back into familiar (inefficient) habits.
Understanding the Human Side of LegalTech Fatigue
It’s easy to focus on tools and features—but legal ops is powered by people. Post-launch, many teams experience confusion, frustration, or outright resistance. These reactions are rarely personal; they’re human. Change—even good change—brings uncertainty.
Some users might feel:
Overwhelmed by new interfaces and workflows.
Skeptical after previous “failed” tech promises.
Left out if their feedback wasn’t incorporated during setup.
Too busy to engage with "yet another system."
When these emotions go unaddressed, adoption stalls—not because the tech is bad, but because users haven’t been brought along.
A successful implementation isn’t just about uptime and feature sets—it’s about building emotional buy-in and day-to-day relevance. That means listening, acknowledging friction, and making space for the human response to transformation.
How to Sustain LegalTech Momentum Post-Go-Live
1. Set Short-Term Wins and Report Them
Don’t wait a year to show ROI. Identify a few tangible wins—like faster access to templates or increased collaboration—and broadcast them internally.
2. Create LegalTech Champions
Designate “power users” as go-to resources in each department. Peer-to-peer support builds confidence and reduces dependency on external vendors or IT.
3. Run a 30-60-90 Day Feedback Loop
Schedule structured check-ins post-launch to gather user input, refine system configurations, and maintain engagement. Continuous improvement beats one-and-done launches.
Treat LegalTech Like a Living System
Your DMS (or any legal tool) should evolve with your team. Don’t treat go-live as the end of the road—it’s the start of a new one. Build a culture of curiosity and responsiveness, where your tools get smarter, faster, and more valuable over time.
Chime In. Be Heard.
Have you survived the dreaded post-go-live slump—or still climbing out of it? What worked (or didn’t) for your team? Share your experiences with the Legal Ops community. Your voice might be the insight someone else needs to spark real change.
mot-r is the Legal Work Orchestration solution for General Counsel. It is designed to reduce overwork and elevate legal service quality of legal teams of all sizes. With workflows, dashboards and granular reporting, it improves operational effectiveness and client service quality. Created by a team of enterprise software experts—who have a passion for reducing the human cost of legal work—mot-r is a trusted supplier to general counsel teams in financial services, healthcare, real estate, sports management and more. When you're ready to modernize how your in-house team works, we're ready to help.