Building a Legal Knowledgebase with SharePoint

Estimated reading time: 8 minutes

As today’s legal professionals face increasing pressure to work more efficiently and collaboratively, legal departments are turning toward digital solutions to manage institutional knowledge more effectively. One of the most powerful ways law firms and in-house legal teams can organize and share internal know-how is by building a legal knowledgebase with SharePoint Wiki Pages and Lists.

With Microsoft 365 tools like SharePoint Online, legal teams can capture, store, and retrieve critical knowledge—from best practice guides and case precedents to compliance checklists and contract templates—all in a centralized, searchable, and secure platform.

In this blog post, we’ll explain how your legal department can build a structured legal knowledgebase using SharePoint, explore best practices, and provide actionable insights on how these digital tools can transform your legal operations.

A legal knowledgebase is a centralized repository that captures and organizes an organization’s legal policies, procedures, matter data, compliance documentation, frequently asked questions, and lessons learned. It supports quicker decision-making, reduces redundant work, and helps legal teams onboard new staff more efficiently.

Increased remote collaboration, growing volumes of legal data, and the demand for seamless knowledge sharing between departments have emphasized the need for well-designed legal knowledge management systems. SharePoint—especially when enhanced with Microsoft Lists, Document Libraries, and metadata tagging—is one of the most robust and flexible solutions available in the Microsoft 365 suite for creating just that.

Let’s break down the essential components and best practices for building a legal knowledgebase that makes your firm smarter, faster, and more collaborative—based on expert recommendations from Origami Connect, OnePlace Solutions, and other authorities in SharePoint implementation for legal teams.

1. Choose the Right SharePoint Site Architecture

The first fundamental step is setting up a dedicated SharePoint site exclusively for your legal knowledgebase.

  • This site becomes your central hub for storing Wiki Pages, Lists, and Document Libraries.
  • It simplifies permissions management by keeping content isolated and secure.
  • It enhances search performance and ensures that knowledge-related content appears in a relevant context.

Best Practice: Organize knowledge by practice area, jurisdiction, or matter type using separate sections, pages, or even subsites within the main legal knowledgebase site. You can also use Document Sets for individual legal matters that carry inherited metadata for consistency.

SharePoint Wiki Pages (also known as modern site pages) are perfect for storing comprehensive legal articles, internal guides, and standard operating procedures. Their rich text editing and layout features allow you to create detailed and visually organized documentation.

Create a Wiki Page template to maintain consistency. Your template might include:

  • A summary or abstract
  • Legal analysis or context
  • Relevant statutes or case law
  • Embedded links to case files or templates
  • Applicable jurisdiction and practice area
  • Author and version control region

Example: A Wiki Page titled “How to File a Trademark Application” could include procedural steps, jurisdictional requirements, common challenges, legal references, and links to court filing templates.

According to Origami Connect, standardizing Wiki Page templates ensures your knowledgebase remains scalable and navigable as it grows.

For a visual example of creating effective Wiki Pages and templates, see this helpful YouTube walkthrough.

Whereas Wiki Pages are best for narrative-style content, SharePoint Lists excel at managing structured data.

Consider using Lists for:

  • Legal matter trackers
  • Contract lifecycle tracking
  • Regulatory compliance checklists
  • Risk assessments
  • Complaint or dispute logs

Customize each list with metadata columns such as:

  • Matter number
  • Practice area
  • Case status
  • Responsible attorney
  • Jurisdiction

You can also create filtered list views to better support different user needs and workflows. For instance, a paralegal may access a customized view showing only active cases in their jurisdiction.

Tip: Add lookup columns to connect Lists and Wiki Pages. For example, list items in a “Legal Matters” list can include clickable links to related Wiki articles or document sets for quick access.

4. Enhance Searchability with Metadata and Custom Views

One of SharePoint’s biggest strengths is metadata tagging and custom search capabilities—leveraging them well will drastically improve your legal team’s ability to find relevant content quickly.

Implement a metadata taxonomy that includes:

  • Practice area (e.g., Employment Law, IP)
  • Document type (How-to, Policy, Template)
  • Jurisdiction (Federal, State, EU, etc.)
  • Audience (Attorneys, Paralegals, Compliance)

Configure custom search scopes (Search Verticals) in SharePoint to ensure your users are only searching within the legal knowledgebase and not the entire tenant. This minimizes noise and returns the most relevant content first.

For further personalization, use audience targeting to tailor visibility. For example, compliance-related articles can be prioritized for the Risk & Compliance team.

Learn more about building advanced SharePoint search solutions from this SharePoint Maven guide.

5. Manage Permissions and Ensure Content Integrity

Security and content governance are paramount in any legal solution.

  • Grant editing rights only to designated knowledgebase contributors (such as knowledge managers or legal operations staff).
  • Provide view-only permissions to the wider legal team.
  • Use SharePoint’s version history and audit logs to ensure content accountability, traceability, and compliance.

Tip: For highly sensitive content (e.g., litigation strategy documents), consider applying Information Protection labels or sensitivity labels available in Microsoft 365 compliance tools.

While Wiki Pages and Lists hold dynamic or structured information, Document Libraries are ideal for storing formal legal files.

Document types might include:

  • Contracts
  • Briefs
  • Regulatory filings
  • Court templates
  • Training materials

Use Document Sets to organize files related to specific legal matters or case numbers. Each file within a Document Set automatically inherits metadata such as “Client Name,” “Practice Area,” “Status,” and “Date Filed,” streamlining retrieval and categorization.

For instruction on how to set up legal-focused Document Libraries, visit OnePlace Solutions.

7. Scale with Automation and AI Capabilities

Your knowledgebase can grow in both capability and intelligence over time. Microsoft 365 provides powerful extensions to keep your system scalable and “smart”:

  • Microsoft Viva Topics uses AI to generate topic cards and automatically organize knowledge across Microsoft 365. It’s like having an AI paralegal help tag and surface relevant legal knowledge next to your work. Learn more here: Viva Topics Overview
  • Power Automate can auto-provision new matter sites, assign permissions, and trigger notifications—saving legal operations teams valuable time.

Example: When a new legal matter is initiated, automate the creation of a new Document Set with a templated folder structure and pre-populated metadata.

If you’re a legal secretary, paralegal, attorney, or legal operations manager, here are a few actionable steps you can take:

  • Start Small, Then Scale: Identify 3–5 recurring legal processes (e.g., NDA review, contract approval, complaint response) and create Wiki Pages to document them. Expand from there.
  • Define Your Metadata Strategy Early: Decide on standard tags for jurisdiction, practice area, and document type before uploading content.
  • Develop Templates: A single standardized Wiki Page template can dramatically improve clarity and searchability across your knowledgebase.
  • Use Lists to Replace Spreadsheets: Import Excel trackers into SharePoint Lists for dynamic, collaborative use.
  • Partner with Experts: Microsoft 365 tools are powerful—but require thoughtful implementation to be effective in legal settings.

At Automated Intelligent Solutions, we specialize in helping law firms and in-house legal departments harness SharePoint and Microsoft 365 to build custom knowledge management solutions.

Our services include:

  • SharePoint architecture planning tailored to legal workflows
  • Building custom Wiki Page templates and metadata taxonomies
  • Automation of legal processes with Microsoft Power Platform
  • Compliance and security configuration at the document level
  • User training for attorneys, paralegals, and administrative staff

Whether you’re restructuring your firm’s knowledge system or establishing a new legal technology strategy, our consultants have the subject-matter expertise and Microsoft know-how to deliver results.

Creating a legal knowledgebase using SharePoint Wiki Pages and Lists enables your team to capture institutional wisdom, improve efficiency, and reduce the burden of repetitive research. With the right planning and expertise, SharePoint can become your team’s most valuable tool for knowledge retention, legal compliance, and operational excellence.

Ready to build your firm’s legal knowledgebase?
Contact us today to schedule a consultation and learn how our Microsoft 365 experts can help your legal team work smarter.

Let SharePoint—and the experts behind it—empower your legal operations to achieve next-level productivity and collaboration.

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