Litera launches Clean+ cloud metadata tool for firms
Fri, 19th Jun 2026 (Today)
Litera has launched Clean+, a cloud-hosted metadata cleaning product for law firm communications. It extends the company's existing document-scrubbing tools into a managed service model.
The launch targets the legal sector's long-running concern over hidden metadata in documents sent by email, particularly through Microsoft Outlook. That metadata can reveal tracked changes, comments, document history and other embedded information firms may not intend to share with clients, counterparties or courts.
Clean+ is the cloud-based version of what was previously sold as Metadact Server. Instead of requiring law firms to install and maintain their own server infrastructure, Litera hosts and manages the service, removing the need for internal IT teams to provision, patch or maintain the underlying system.
The service applies a single metadata policy across multiple Outlook environments, including the classic desktop version, the newer Outlook application, Outlook for Mac, Outlook for Web and mobile. The aim is to give firms a consistent set of controls as lawyers work across different devices and interfaces.
Metadata management has long been a niche but significant part of legal technology because accidental disclosure can create both confidentiality risks and professional conduct problems. The issue has become more pressing as lawyers produce and exchange a larger volume of documents and draft material through digital workflows.
Litera linked that increase to the wider use of artificial intelligence tools in legal drafting and collaboration. It argued that automated generation of more documents increases the chance that files containing hidden information will be sent externally unless firms use structured controls.
Litera also drew a distinction between AI-led approaches and rules-based systems for metadata removal. It said Clean+ relies on a deterministic engine developed over three decades, rather than probabilistic AI, to decide what information should be stripped from outbound attachments.
According to Litera, the underlying engine is already widely used in the legal market. It cited industry survey data showing that its metadata cleaning technology is used by 42% of the market.
Brand overhaul
The launch is also part of a broader rebranding of Litera's Metadact products under the Clean name. Under the revised line-up, Clean Desktop replaces Metadact Desktop, Clean Cloud replaces Metadact in Litera One, Clean Server replaces Metadact Server and Clean+ replaces Metadact Server in Litera One.
The reorganisation gives Litera a more unified naming structure across desktop, cloud and server-based deployment models. It also reflects a shift in customer demand towards software delivered as a managed service rather than installed on a firm's own systems.
Clean+ will be sold as a standalone package and will also be included in Draft Advanced, Litera's drafting suite. Existing Metadact Server users will be offered migration support as they move to the new service.
Joey Benedek, Senior Vice President of Product Management at Litera, said the product addresses a basic trust issue in legal communications. "The practice of law runs on trust, and hidden document data breaks it," Benedek said.
He said rising document volumes have increased pressure on law firm technology teams. "As AI accelerates how lawyers draft and collaborate, the volume of outbound documents is climbing and so is the risk. Clean+ gives IT leaders the server-class protection their firm depends on without the infrastructure burden that has always come with it," Benedek said.
Legal tech push
Litera is one of the larger software suppliers focused on law firms, with products spanning drafting, document comparison, contract review, knowledge management and business development. It says it serves more than 15,000 customers globally and 2.3 million daily users, including nearly all of the Am Law 100.
The move to expand cloud delivery of metadata controls comes as legal technology providers respond to changes in Microsoft's product environment and in hybrid working habits. Law firms now operate across multiple email clients and devices, making central policy enforcement harder when tools rely only on legacy desktop or on-premise installations.
For firms, metadata cleaning remains a routine but sensitive compliance task rather than a headline technology purchase. The business case often rests less on productivity gains than on reducing the risk of inadvertent disclosure in matters where confidentiality is central.
By placing the service in its own managed environment, Litera is also trying to reduce operational friction for law firm IT departments. That may appeal to firms that still want centralised controls over attachments but no longer want to dedicate internal resources to maintaining the server layer behind them.
General availability is set for the end of the month, with migration support for existing Metadact Server users.