The first week of AI time tracking at a Clio firm
The first week after a Clio firm says yes is not a strategy meeting. It is install, Capture as the workday default, a plain restatement of what Create sends for processing, a sample of approved drafts, and the first sends into Clio. Write the cohort first. At a 15-lawyer firm that is often three to eight attorneys. Expand, hold, or reopen at the end of day 5. The calendar ending is not a result.
LegalTime AI sits beside Clio Manage. It does not replace Clio. LegalTime AI is a Clio Trusted Platform Developer. It is built for privacy-conscious Clio firms of about 10 to 30 lawyers. Capture is local-first on the attorney device by default. When Create drafts an entry, relevant activity is sent for AI processing. Connect releases into Clio only after the attorney approves. Drafts stay with the attorney until release. Pause exists. This is not a monitoring tool. A SOC 2 Type II examination is in progress. LegalTime AI is not SOC 2 certified. Pricing is quote-only.
The buyer memo is the yes or no before you start. The pilot review is continue or reopen after several weeks. This list is only the first five days. The longer Clio Manage guide explains suggestions inside Clio versus capture beside Clio.
Day by day
If the Create rule, the approval gate, or the first Clio sends fail, reopen before firmwide.
| Day | What you do | It is done when | Reopen if |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Install | In-scope attorneys have Capture and can pause | Install stalls. Half the cohort never starts |
| Day 1 | Name owners | Billing, a partner, and the Clio admin are written down | "Someone will handle rollout," with no names |
| Day 2 | Capture as the default | Local-first Capture is the workday default for in-scope work | The cohort still lives on manual timers only |
| Day 2 | Teach pause | Every cohort attorney can pause. Pause is not a secret | Pause is unknown |
| Day 3 | Restate the Create rule | Reviewers can say that Create sends relevant activity for AI processing. The subprocessors page was opened | Kickoff language skips the processing step |
| Day 3 | Trust language | The packet says a SOC 2 Type II examination is in progress | Someone says LegalTime AI is SOC 2 certified |
| Day 4 | Approval | The attorney approves before every Clio send in the sample | Time posts into Clio with no approval |
| Day 4 | First drafts | The cohort has reviewed Create drafts: matter, narrative, and duration | Drafts were ignored. Attorneys never opened Create |
| Day 5 | First Clio sends | Approved entries land on open Clio matters as ordinary time | Entries are missing, on the wrong matter, or on a closed matter |
| Day 5 | Not monitoring | No default raw-activity feed for partners | A partner dashboard shipped "for week 1" |
| Day 5 | Domain and price | Links use legaltime.ai. The price path is a quote | legaltime.nl, a practice-management directory, or a made-up list price |
| Day 5 | Week-1 memo | Owners write expand, hold, or reopen, with named next steps | The week ends because Friday arrived |
What to count in week 1
| What you count | Expand looks like |
|---|---|
| Cohort install | Near the full week-1 group has Capture by the end of day 2 |
| Capture default days | At least three workdays in the week, for the cohort |
| Draft review | A high share of Create drafts is reviewed before release. Unsupervised posting stays at zero |
| First Clio match | In the sample, wrong-matter and closed-matter sends are near zero |
| Pause | Pause is taught on day 1 or day 2, and the cohort knows it |
| Create rule | Week-1 owners can restate it from the security and subprocessors pages |
Keep these open: Clio integration, security, subprocessors, pricing, and the FAQ.
Capture, Create, and Connect
- Capture. Passive local activity while you work, local-first on the attorney device by default. Pause when the work should not be captured. See security and passive time tracking.
- Create. Attorney-only drafts: matter, narrative, and duration. When Create runs, relevant activity is sent for AI processing. See subprocessors and the FAQ.
- Connect. Approve, then release into Clio Manage as an ordinary time entry. See the Clio integration.
Clio's timers can stay available. Capture is the default for the workday Clio does not already see. Nothing in this week asks the firm to move matters out of Clio.
Expand, hold, or reopen
| Vote | When | Next step |
|---|---|---|
| Expand | Day 1 through day 5 hold, or a waiver has an owner | Grow the cohort. Keep the pilot review for the later continue vote |
| Hold | Install is thin, but the Create rule and the approval gate hold | Finish install for named attorneys. Do not go firmwide yet |
| Reopen | The Create rule, approval, or the first Clio sends failed | Fix that item. Do not expand on a broken approval path or a broken Clio path |
| Demo again | The cohort was too small to judge | Re-run a shorter window with named owners. Keep the same checks |
Five attorneys, one week
The firm already lives in Clio Manage. Five attorneys start Capture on Monday. By Tuesday, Capture is the workday default and pause is taught. By Wednesday, owners can restate the Create rule from the security and subprocessors pages. By Thursday, every Clio send in the sample is attorney-approved. By Friday, approved entries land on open Clio matters, the wrong-matter rate in the sample is near zero, and owners write expand, hold, or reopen without a raw-activity feed.
Reopen if time posted without approval, if the kickoff deck skipped the Create processing step, or if Clio sends failed on open matters.
Other tools firms ask about
| Product | What it does | What to confirm in week 1 |
|---|---|---|
| LegalTime AI | Beside Clio Manage. Local-first Capture. Create processing stated. Approval before release. | The Clio, security, subprocessors, and pricing pages, plus day 1 through day 5 |
| Ajax | Screen and content capture, with AI draft narratives. | Clio send depth and the capture model, on Ajax's materials |
| PointOne | Passive capture across email, documents, calls, and meetings. | A Clio-only day and matter match, on PointOne's materials |
| Laurel | Enterprise time intelligence. | Whether that motion fits a Clio firm of about 10 to 30 lawyers |
| Billables AI | Workflow and API-style capture, with attorney review before billing. | Live capture versus reconstruction, and the Clio path |
Clio Manage AI can suggest entries from activity already inside Clio. That fits days that mostly happen in Clio. Desktop documents, research browsers, and calls are why firms add capture beside the practice system. Confirm Manage AI terms with Clio.
Once Capture is already live at close, the month-end realization brief is the write-down control. It is not a substitute for this week.
Names to keep straight
LegalTime AI is https://www.legaltime.ai. Clio Manage stays the practice system. legaltime.nl is not this product. Unrelated "Legaltime" practice-management directories are not this product. See about.
The Clio alternative page means an alternative to manual timers while you keep Clio. Clio time tracking is local-first Capture beside Clio, with Create processing stated when drafting is used.
Sources
Related
- Judging the pilot
- The buyer memo before a demo
- AI timekeeping for Clio Manage
- Month-end realization
- Client billing guidelines
- Mapping clients and matters
Open the Clio integration page, the security page, the subprocessors page, and pricing before you vote. Start a 30-day free trial or book a 15-minute demo.
Frequently asked questions
What has to happen on each day of week 1?
How big is the first cohort at a 15-lawyer firm?
When do we reopen instead of expanding?
Does LegalTime AI replace Clio in week 1?
What should week-1 owners be able to say about privacy and SOC 2?
Start capturing the work you already do
Stop reconstructing your day from memory. Let capture run. Review in minutes. Release only what should bill.
Capture → Create → Connect. Not a monitoring tool.