How to Build a Multi-Stage Approval Workflow for Legal Teams

Streamline legal reviews with automated multi-stage approvals

Legal teams often deal with repetitive, multi-step sign-offs, contract review, policy updates, procurement checks, NDAs, and compliance confirmations.
In this guide, you’ll build a Legal Approval Workflow that routes requests through several stages (Submitter → Legal Assistant → Legal Counsel → Final Approver), all using one form, built-in logic, and a simple review portal.
📘 Learn more: Create your first form, app, or portal in a flash

Why this helps

• Reduces back-and-forth between legal, procurement, compliance, and operations.
• Automatically assigns records based on role, request type, or department.
• Ensures legal teams have a consistent, audit-ready workflow for approvals.
• Allows managers and counsel to review, comment, and approve everything inside a dedicated portal.
  📘 Learn more: Build personalized and time-saving flows with logic and automation

Step 1 – Create your legal request form

You can start from scratch or use a template from our Template Gallery (e.g.,Document Review and Sign-Off).
You can also use Magic Create, try this prompt:

“Legal approval workflow form with requester details, document upload, risk category, internal routing, and approval status tracking.”

Include key fields your legal team needs:

• requester name, department
• document name + upload
• request category (Contract, NDA, Policy Update, Vendor Review, etc.)
• urgency or deadline
• risk level (Low / Medium / High)
• internal notes (optional)
• approval stage (Status field: Submitted → Under Legal Review → Needs Revision → Approved → Rejected)

💡 Tip: Use multi-step pages to separate requester info, document details, and internal-only sections.
📘 Learn more: Form editor and field types

Step 2 – Add conditional logic for routing

Use On Submit logic to push each request into the correct workflow path:

Examples:

• If Risk level = High → assign to Senior Legal Counsel.
• If Request category = Contract → notify Contract Review Team.
• If Document upload is empty → redirect to an error/requirements page.
• If Status = Needs Revision → send an email back to the requester.

💡 Tip: Add separate ending pages for different request paths (e.g., “Your request was routed to Legal Counsel”).
📘 Learn more: What is “On Submit” logic and how it works

Step 3 – Build a legal review portal

Turn your workflow into a mini internal tool:

1. Create a new app/portal and add your form to one of the pages.
2. Add multiple views (tables, kanban boards, galleries) to help legal teams manage submissions.
3. Group requests by status: Submitted, Under Review, Needs Revision, Approved.
4. Restrict pages with user roles so only Legal Counsel or Admins can update sensitive fields.
5. Allow reviewers to open a submission directly and update the status, add comments, or request edits.

💡 Tip: Use a Kanban board grouped by Status—this gives legal teams a visual pipeline of approvals.
📘 Learn more: Customize your form/app layout and design

Step 4 – Automate notifications for each approval stage

Set up On Submit and On Update logic so legal team members and requesters stay informed.

Suggested rules:

• When status changes to Under Review → notify Legal Counsel.
• When status changes to Needs Revision → send requester an email with instructions.
• When status changes to Approved → send final confirmation and attach a PDF summary (optional).
• When category = Vendor Review → Slack-notify procurement channel (if connected).

📘 Learn more: How to send and receive email notifications

Step 5 – Enable role-based access & internal-only fields

Legal teams often need confidential fields the requester should never see.

Add admin-only components such as:

• legal notes
• internal assessment or risk score
• assignment field
• compliance checklist

📘 Learn more: How to create a portal and manage users’ access

Step 6 – Add dashboards for legal insights

Use charts, tables, and filters to create a live Legal Ops Dashboard:

Examples:

• number of requests per month
• average approval time
• approval vs. rejection rate
• workload per legal reviewer
• distribution by category or risk level

📘 Learn more: How to showcase charts based on form responses

Pro tips

💡 Pro Tip: Add a PDF summary for approved requests
Attach a custom PDF containing the approved document, metadata, and timestamps.
📘 Learn more: Signature forms & custom PDFs (referenced in file)

💡 Pro Tip: Use embedded pages for supporting material
Embed internal legal resources, policy docs, or contract playbooks inside your portal.
📘 Learn more: How to add a live embed page

💡 Pro Tip: Use variables to calculate dynamic risk scoring
Create a “risk score” using variable calculations based on category, value, or urgency.
📘 Learn more: How to calculate multiple scores with variable fields

Real-world example

A regional law firm built a multi-stage approval workflow in Formaloo for contract intake and risk review. Using On Submit logic and a role-based portal, each request is automatically assigned to a Legal Assistant, then escalated to Counsel only if the contract value or risk score exceeds a threshold.
This reduced review time from 5 days to under 24 hours and eliminated manual email chains entirely.
📈 See more examples: Formaloo use cases

FAQ

1. Can legal reviewers edit submissions without exposing fields to requesters?

Yes. Use admin-only fields and portal role restrictions so internal notes and approval decisions stay private.
❓ Learn more: How to add user roles on your portal

2. Can multi-stage approvals require multiple reviewers before moving forward?

Absolutely. Each approval step can trigger new assignments or status changes using On Update logic.
🔒 Learn more: What is “On Update” logic and how it works

3. Can we attach the approved contract as a PDF?

Yes. Use a custom PDF template and trigger it when status = Approved.
🛠️ Learn more: How to create custom PDFs (referenced in file)

4. Can Legal Counsel update the status directly from the portal?

Yes. Status fields can be edited directly in tables, boards, or individual submission pages.
🔧 Learn more: How to customize tables, kanbans, and galleries

5. Can external departments submit requests without logging in?

Yes. The form can be public, while the portal is restricted to legal team members only.
🔍 Learn more: What is Formaloo?

Wrap-up: Launch your legal approval pipeline

You now have a complete legal approval workflow—from intake to review, escalation, and final approval—fully automated inside Formaloo.
Next, enhance it with dashboards, custom PDFs, or additional review stages depending on your team’s needs.
🎉 Learn more: Expand your workflows with automation

Last updated November 2025