Slack recently introduced a new tool, Slack Connect, that allows as many as 20 different organizations or entities to work together across the same channel. According to the company’s website, the channel-based messaging system was “designed to replace email.” But are corporate legal departments and their organizations ready for such a shift?

If not properly managed, communications channels that exist outside of the more familiar boundaries of email can bring headaches to a business grappling to comply with various obligations related to privacy, information security and e-discovery. However, legal departments spurred on by pandemic-induced remote working and the increasing prevalence of such tools may already be adequately prepared to handle those challenges.