Can standardized legal data change the way legal professionals work, collaborate, and innovate? That’s the question at the heart of this blog—and the answer starts with SALI. SALI is a nonprofit initiative focused on creating a shared taxonomy for legal information.
At its core, SALI: Standardizing Legal Data isn’t just about better organization. It’s about using standardized structures to make legal data easier to use. This improves how systems talk to each other and helps legal teams work more efficiently. By enabling interoperability, SALI is unlocking new possibilities for legal technology and operations.
Damien Riehl and Jim Hannigan are two of the key leaders behind SALI. Their combined expertise in law, technology, and process design has helped shape SALI. The result is a practical and powerful solution for legal professionals. With years of experience, they’ve guided the initiative’s evolution. It has now become a widely adopted framework for standardized legal data.
Watch the full conversation with Damien Riehl & Jim Hannigan here:
Standardized Legal Data: Solving Shared Legal Data Challenges
Initially, SALI was created in response to a common industry pain point. Legal data was often siloed in incompatible formats. For decades, legal professionals have struggled with proprietary systems. These systems make it difficult to collaborate or analyze data across platforms. SALI’s offer of standardized legal data structures improves communication and reduces friction between law firms, corporate legal departments, and tech providers.
Over time, what began with simple matter categorization quickly evolved into a broader solution. This standardized solution serves the diverse needs of modern legal teams and vendors.
From Core Tags to Expansive Metadata
At first, SALI aimed to standardize high-level matter information, such as area of law, jurisdiction, and industry. However, thanks to community input and iterative development, the initiative quickly expanded. Today, SALI includes more than 10,000 unique metadata tags, covering a wide range of legal activities, processes, and practice areas. This makes it a cornerstone of standardized legal data.
This growth underscores SALI’s flexible, user-driven approach. As a result, legal teams now have access to a consistent framework. This framework describes nearly every aspect of their work—making reporting, automation, and collaboration far more efficient.
Wider Adoption and Accelerated Impact
The release of SALI version 2 in March 2022 was a turning point. By implementing XML and Web Ontology Language (OWL), the initiative made integration easier. Organizations can now integrate the taxonomy of standardized legal data more effectively. Consequently, adoption accelerated across the legal ecosystem—including major law firms, tech vendors, and Fortune 500 legal departments.
This widespread adoption confirms that standardized legal data is becoming essential to modern legal operations. Moreover, it shows that organizations recognize the value of investing in infrastructure that supports scalable, digital-first legal work.
Unlocking Interoperability Through APIs
One of the most significant outcomes of SALI is enabling interoperability between systems. With a shared taxonomy, tools and platforms—whether matter management systems, billing software, or legal analytics—can now “speak the same language.” This is where standardized legal data makes integration via APIs much easier and more effective.
Consequently, legal teams are seeing major improvements. There is better data consistency, reporting accuracy, and cross-platform collaboration. Not only does this save time, but it also sets the foundation for smarter workflows. Better decision-making can occur through standardized data use.
Conclusion: Building the Future on Standardized Legal Data
SALI: Standardizing Legal Data is helping legal professionals move past disconnected systems. It aims toward a more integrated, efficient future. By offering a shared structure for legal data, SALI empowers law firms, corporate teams, and tech partners to work better together. Ultimately, the future of legal innovation depends on data that’s easy to share, analyze, and build on—and SALI is leading the way.
Watch the full conversation here: Notes to My (Legal) Self: Season 5, Episode 7 (ft. Damien Riehl & Jim Hannigan)
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