Extract from Trudy Knockless’ article “In-House Legal Teams Tighten SOP Workflows as AI and Risk Converge”
With service of process volumes spiking and deadlines tightening, legal departments are discovering that outdated tools and manual workflows are no match for the pace of today’s litigation landscape.
A new report released by global business administration and compliance solutions provider CSC, “The State of Service of Process in 2025: Riding the Wave of Surging SOP Demand,” reveals that legal departments are increasingly overwhelmed by rising service of process (SOP) volumes, growing regulatory complexity and technology systems that just aren’t keeping up. With mass arbitration accelerating and response deadlines tightening, 76% of in-house counsel say they’re now spending “too much” or “excessive” time managing SOP, a cornerstone of litigation compliance.
“Each SOP document is a unit of risk,” said Paul Mathews, director of product management at CSC. “When the volume rises, there’s more surface area for small mistakes to become major issues.”
According to the report, which is based on responses from 250 senior legal professionals across the U.S., 61% of respondents cited data accuracy as their top SOP concern, and 56% flagged rising SOP volumes. But the real squeeze comes from what happens behind the scenes—outdated tech, fragmented systems and a shortage of experienced SOP personnel.
