ApproveThis manages your Lawcus Integration approvals.

Why Legal Teams Hate Paperwork (And How to Fix It)

Let’s be real: Law firms and corporate legal departments didn’t get into this business to babysit approval processes. But here we are – drowning in invoice sign-offs, matter intake forms, and compliance checklists. Enter ApproveThis and Lawcus. One automates approvals, the other runs your legal ops. Together? They turn "waiting on signatures" into "actually practicing law."

What Happens When Approval Meets Practice Management

Lawcus keeps matters moving. ApproveThis keeps decisions flowing. Connect them through Zapier, and you get:

• Automatic approval requests when matters/invoices/leads hit specific stages
• Real-time updates in Lawcus when something gets approved (or denied)

No more digging through inboxes to see if that vendor contract got the green light. No more frantic Slack searches for "Who has the billing approval this month?"

4 Ways This Combo Saves Legal Teams From Themselves

1. Matter Intake That Doesn’t Require a Psych Degree

Scenario: A new client matter comes in through Lawcus. Normally, this triggers an email chain longer than a Supreme Court opinion. With ApproveThis?

How it works: New Lawcus matter → Auto-create approval request → Route to conflict check team → Sync approval status back to Lawcus. Partners get notified via email – they can approve without logging into either system.

Mid-sized firm use case: A 150-person IP firm uses this to handle 200+ monthly trademark filings. Conflict checks now take 2 hours instead of 2 days.

2. Invoice Approvals That Don’t Miss Billable Hours

Scenario: Your associate finally tracked their time. The invoice gets generated in Lawcus. Now it’s stuck in accounting purgatory.

How it works: New Lawcus invoice → Auto-create approval request → Route based on amount (Under $5k? Auto-approve. Over? Send to CFO). Approved? Update Lawcus matter with billing notes.

Corporate legal use case: A manufacturing company’s legal team reduced invoice approval delays by 78% using approval thresholds. Their secret? Auto-approving NDAs under $10k.

3. Lead Tracking That Actually Closes Deals

Scenario: A potential client moves from "Initial Consult" to "Retainer Agreement" in Lawcus. Cue the internal debate: "Do we have capacity?" "Who’s handling this?"

How it works: Lead stage changes in Lawcus → Auto-request approvals from practice group leads → Denied? Add Lawcus note explaining why. Approved? Trigger conflict check.

Plaintiff firm use case: A mass tort firm auto-approves leads meeting specific criteria (e.g., jurisdiction, case type). Result? 40% fewer non-viable cases reaching partners.

4. Compliance Paper Trails That Audit Themselves

Scenario: You approved that settlement agreement last quarter. Now the GC wants proof it was reviewed by compliance.

How it works: Approval decision in ApproveThis → Auto-add timestamped note in Lawcus matter → Include who approved/rejected and why.

Regulatory use case: A healthcare org’s compliance team uses this to document HIPAA compliance checks. Bonus: External auditors get read-only access without needing Lawcus licenses.

Setup That’s Easier Than a 1L’s Torts Exam

1. Sign up for ApproveThis (free trial works)
2. Connect both apps in Zapier (takes 6 minutes)
3. Pick a trigger from Lawcus (new matter, invoice, etc.)
4. Choose an ApproveThis action (create request, update status)
5. Test with a real matter – we’ll wait.

Pro tip: Start with one workflow (like invoice approvals). Scale after your team stops complaining about "that new system."

Why This Isn’t Just Another Software Integration

ApproveThis brings three things most legal tools ignore:

• Email approvals: Partners approve via Gmail. No new logins. No excuses.
• Vacation coverage: Out-of-office approvers? Requests auto-route to delegates.
• Approval math: Auto-approve invoices under $X. Escalate others. No manual checks.

Meanwhile, Lawcus keeps matter histories pristine. Together, they’re like a contracts clerk that never sleeps.

Who Actually Benefits From This?

Managing partners: Get approval rates/metrics without asking associates. Reduce "Did you see my email?" by 60%.

Finance teams: See approved invoices directly in Lawcus. No more PDF attachments named "FINAL_FINAL_V2."

Compliance officers: Audit trails automatically attached to matters. Sleep better at night.

Clients: Get updates faster because you’re not chasing internal approvals.

The Bottom Line (No Billable Hours Required)

ApproveThis + Lawcus via Zapier isn’t about flashy tech. It’s about:

- Cutting approval delays from days to hours
- Eliminating "I thought YOU approved that!" moments
- Giving clients actual updates instead of "We’re following up"

This isn’t reinventing legal practice management. It’s just removing the dumb parts.

Next Steps (Before You Bill Another Hour)

1. Try ApproveThis free for 14 days
2. Book a 20-minute demo to see Lawcus integrations
3. Forward this to whoever handles your legal tech stack

Because life’s too short for manual approval stamps.