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How Can Lupl Be Customized to Suit Specific Practice Areas?

Ab Saraswat

Ab Saraswat

Customize Lupl to fit your legal practice area
In this article

    The legal landscape is diverse, with each practice area's unique requirements and challenges. Customization in legal tech is no longer a luxury; it's a necessity. Lupl, with its innovative features, offers a solution that can be tailored to various practice areas. In this blog post, we'll delve deeper into how Lupl's specific features can be customized to suit M&A, Transactions, Litigation, Arbitration, Real Estate, and general legal tasks.

    Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)

    Workstreams: In the complex world of M&A, organization is paramount. Lupl's Workstreams provide a comprehensive toolkit to plan, organize, and deliver M&A matters. With custom fields, dynamic sorting, and filtering options, managing M&A projects becomes endlessly flexible and scalable. Whether it's due diligence or integration planning, Workstreams ensure that all tasks are aligned with the unique needs of the M&A process.

    Forms: Lupl's Forms feature revolutionizes how M&A teams handle matter intake, approvals, and due diligence. A few clicks are all it takes to customize, generate, and send out a Form. Responses land directly in the Workstream, organized exactly how you want them. This streamlines communication and ensures that all relevant information is readily accessible.

    Transactions

    AI Integration: Transactions require precision and efficiency. Lupl's AI capabilities enable the creation of matters from emails, capturing essential details without manual input. This automation speeds up the transaction process and ensures consistency.

    Forms: For transactional matters, Lupl's Forms feature can be used for procurement and capturing team feedback at the end of a matter. Customizable and easy to use, Forms streamline communication and ensure that all relevant information is captured accurately, enhancing the efficiency of transactional processes.

    Litigation

    Workstreams: Litigation involves multiple stages, each with its unique requirements. Lupl's Workstreams offer a tailored solution for each phase of litigation, from discovery to trial preparation. Custom fields and dynamic sorting options allow legal teams to organize tasks and documents precisely, ensuring the litigation process runs smoothly.

    AI Integration: In litigation, consistency is key. Lupl's AI capabilities facilitate the capturing and integration of knowledge, ensuring that results are consistent across various stages of litigation. This intelligent use of technology enhances the quality of legal work and saves valuable time.

    Arbitrations

    Forms: Arbitration proceedings often involve international regulatory projects and require meticulous organization. Lupl's Forms feature simplifies the process of gathering information, whether it's for matter intake or capturing feedback. Customizable and organized within the Workstream, Forms ensure that all relevant details are at hand, enhancing the efficiency of arbitration matters.

    Workstreams: Lupl's Workstreams provide a comprehensive toolkit for arbitration matters. With custom fields and dynamic sorting, legal teams can plan, organize, and deliver arbitration proceedings in a way that suits their specific needs. This flexibility ensures that arbitration matters are handled with precision and efficiency.

    Real Estate

    AI Integration: Real estate law involves various intricate processes. Lupl's AI capabilities enable the creation of matters from emails, streamlining property acquisition, lease agreements, and more. This automation ensures that all relevant details are captured without manual input, enhancing efficiency.

    Workstreams: Real estate matters require tailored organization. Lupl's Workstreams, with custom fields and dynamic sorting options, provide a flexible and scalable solution for real estate legal teams. Whether it's property acquisition or zoning compliance, Workstreams ensure that tasks are organized to meet the unique needs of real estate law.

    General Legal Tasks

    Forms: For general legal tasks, Lupl's Forms feature offers endless use cases. From matter intake to approvals and team feedback, Forms streamline communication and ensure that information is organized within the Workstream. This customization enhances efficiency across various legal fields.

    Workstreams and AI Integration: Lupl's Workstreams and AI capabilities provide a comprehensive solution for general legal tasks. Workstreams allow for flexible planning and organization, while AI integration ensures consistency and automation. Together, these features provide a tailored solution that can adapt to the diverse needs of modern law firms.

    Conclusion

    Lupl's upcoming release is set to redefine legal project management by offering enhanced customization options tailored to specific practice areas. From M&A to Real Estate, Lupl's Workstreams, Forms, and AI integration provide a personalized solution that enhances efficiency, collaboration, and transparency.

    Whether you're handling complex M&A projects or intricate real estate matters, Lupl's innovative features offer a tailored solution that meets the growing needs of your clients.

    Interested in exploring how Lupl can transform your legal practice? Book a free demo today and discover the power of customization with Lupl. Experience firsthand how Lupl's Workstreams, Forms, and AI can be tailored to suit your specific practice areas, providing a solution as unique as your legal needs.

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      # Lupl Workstream Design Principles: A Practical Guide to Legal Project Management for Lawyers Legal project management works when your setup is simple, ownership is clear, and statuses are unambiguous. This guide shows how to turn existing processes and checklists into a lean, reliable Workstream. Lupl is the legal project management platform for law firms, making it easy and intuitive to apply these principles. It also supports moving your work from Excel, Word tables, or if you are transitioning from Microsoft Planner, Smartsheet, or Monday. You will learn what belongs in a Workstream, a Task, or a Step, and which columns to use. If you want practical project management for lawyers, start here. **Excerpt:** Legal project management works when ownership, dates, and statuses are clear. This guide shows lawyers how to turn checklists into Lupl Workstreams with the right columns, Tasks, and Steps. Use it to standardize project management for lawyers, reduce follow ups, and move matters to done. --- ## How to organize your work with Workstreams, Tasks, and Steps Workstreams, Tasks, and Steps are three different types of objects in Lupl. They form a simple hierarchy. Workstreams contain Tasks. Tasks may contain optional Steps. This hierarchy aligns with standard project management. In project management, you break work into projects, deliverables, and subtasks. Lupl adapts this for lawyers by using Workstreams, Tasks, and Steps. This makes it easier to map legal processes to a structure that teams can track and manage. * **Workstream.** Use when you have many similar or related items to track over time. Think of the Workstream as the table. * Examples: closing checklist, court deadlines, pretrial preparation, regulatory obligations, due diligence, local counsel management. * **Task.** A high level unit of legal work. A key deliverable with an owner and a due date. Tasks are the rows. * Examples: File motion. Prepare Shareholder Agreement. Submit Q3 report. * **Step.** An optional short checklist inside a single Task. Steps roll up to the parent Task. * Examples: Draft. QC. Partner review. E file. Serve. ### Quick test * If it can be overdue by itself, make it a Task. * If it only helps complete a Task, make it a Step. * If you need different columns or owners, create a separate Workstream. --- ## Do you need to track everything in Lupl Not every detail needs to be tracked in a project management system. The principle is to capture what drives accountability and progress. In Lupl, that means focusing on deliverables, not every micro action. * Use the level of detail you would bring to a weekly team meeting agenda. * Position Tasks as key deliverables. Treat Steps as optional micro tasks to show progress. * Example: You need client instructions. Do not add a Task for "Email client to request a call." Just make the call. If the client approves a key deliverable on the call, mark that item Approved in Lupl so the team has visibility. --- ## Start with the Core 5 columns Columns are the backbone of a Workstream. They define what information is tracked for each Task. In project management terms, these are your core metadata fields. They keep everyone aligned without overcomplicating the table. Keep the table narrow. You can add later. These five work across most legal project management use cases. 1. **Title.** Start with a verb. Example: File answer to complaint. 2. **Status.** Five to seven clear choices. Example: Not started, In progress, For review, For approval, Done. 3. **Assignee.** One named owner per row. If you add multiple assignees for collaboration, still name a primary owner. 4. **Due date.** One date per row. 5. **Type or Category.** Show different kinds of work in one table. Example: Filing, Discovery, Signature, Approval. **Priority.** Add only if you actively triage by priority each week. If added, keep it simple: High, Medium, Low. --- ## Add up to three Helper columns Lupl includes a set of pre made columns you can use out of the box. These allow you to customize Workstreams around different phases or stages of a matter. They also let you map how you already track transactional work, litigation, or other processes. Helper columns are optional fields that add context. In task management, these are similar to tags or attributes you use to sort and filter work. The key is to only add what you will update and use. Pick only what you will use. Stop when you reach three. * Party or Counterparty * Jurisdiction or Court * Phase * Approver * Approval, status or yes or no * Signature status * Risk, RAG * Amount or Number * External ID or Client ID * Document or Link * Docket number * Client entity **Guidance** * For Task Workstreams, prefer Approver, Approval, Risk. The rest are more common in Custom Workstreams. * Aim for eight columns or fewer in your main table. Put detail in the Task description, attachments, or Steps. --- ## Simple rules that keep your table clean Consistency is critical in project management. A cluttered or inconsistent table slows teams down. These rules ensure your Workstream remains usable and clear. * Only add a column people will update during the matter. If it never changes, set a default at the Workstream level or set a default value in the column. * Only add a column you will sort or filter on. If you will not use it to find or group work, leave it out. * If a value changes inside one Task, use Steps. Steps show progress without widening the table. * Keep columns short and structured. Use Description for brief context or instructions. Use Task comments for discussion and decisions. Link to work product in your DMS as the source of truth. * One accountable owner per Task and one due date. You can add collaborators, but always name a primary owner who moves the Task. If different people or dates apply to different parts, split into separate Tasks or capture the handoff as Steps. * Add automations after you lock the design. Finalize columns and status definitions first. Then add simple reminders and escalations that read those fields. --- ## Status hygiene that everyone understands Status is the single most important column in project management. It tells the team where the work stands. Too many options cause confusion. Too few cause misalignment. In Lupl, keep it simple and consistent. * Five to seven statuses are enough. * Use one review gate, For review or For approval. Use both only if your process needs two gates. * One terminal status, Done. This is the end state of the Task. Use Archived only if you report on it or need it for retention workflows. --- ## When to split into multiple Workstreams In project management, it is best practice to separate workstreams when workflows, owners, or audiences diverge. Lupl makes this easy by letting you create multiple Workstreams for one matter. Create a new Workstream if any of the following are true. * You need a different set of columns for a chunk of work. * Ownership or cadence is different, for example daily docketing vs monthly reporting. * The audience or confidentiality needs are different. **Signal** * If half your rows leave several columns blank, you are mixing processes. Split the table. --- ## Decision tree, three quick questions Use this quick framework to decide where an item belongs. This is the same principle used in task management software, adapted for legal workflows. 1. Is this a list of similar items over time, or a discrete phase of the matter * Yes. Create a Workstream. 2. Can it be overdue by itself, and does it need an owner * Yes. Create a Task. 3. Is it a step to finish a Task and not tracked on its own * Yes. Create a Step. --- ## Common mistakes to avoid Many project management failures come from overdesigning or misusing the structure. Avoid these mistakes to keep your Workstreams lean and effective. * Wide tables with many optional columns. Keep it to eight or fewer. * Two columns for the same idea, for example Status and Phase that overlap. Merge or define clearly. * More than one approval gate when one would do. It slows work and confuses owners. * Mixing unrelated processes in one table, for example signatures and invoice approvals. --- ## Build your first Workstream Building a Workstream is like setting up a project board. Keep it light, pilot it, then refine. Lupl is designed to let you do this quickly without heavy admin work. 1. Write the Workstream purpose in one sentence. 2. Add the Core 5 columns. 3. Add at most three Helpers you will use. 4. Define clear Status meanings in plain words. 5. Set defaults for any value that repeats on most rows, for example Jurisdiction. 6. Add two light automations, a due soon reminder and an overdue nudge. 7. Pilot for one week and adjust. --- ## Where this fits in legal project management Use these principles to standardize project management for lawyers across matters. Keep structures consistent. Reuse column sets and status definitions. Your team will find work faster, reduce follow ups, and close loops on time. --- ### On page SEO helpers * Suggested title tag. Lupl Workstream Design Principles, Practical Legal Project Management for Lawyers * Suggested meta description. Learn how to design lean Lupl Workstreams for legal project management. Get clear rules for Tasks, Steps, statuses, and columns to run matters with confidence. * Suggested URL slug. legal-project-management-for-lawyers-workstream-design

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