How a 15-lawyer firm protects realization at month-end

Updated September 30, 2026

Unreleased drafts, held time, and write-downs can erase a month of captured work before the invoice goes out. A partner at a 15-lawyer firm that already runs Capture needs a realization brief: a dated count of open Create drafts, a named owner for each material write-down, a hold list, a pre-invoice sample, and a memo. The sample looks at drafts the attorney can see, and at released entries. It does not open a raw activity feed.

Client billing rules are the client guidelines brief. Client and matter IDs are the matter mapping brief. The broader close steps are the month-end close checklist. If a control fails, pause "ship every draft" and reopen the exceptions escalation brief.

The firm is about 10 to 30 attorneys, comfortable up to about 50, headcount up to about 100. Start with the highest-volume matters and the attorneys who have the largest unreleased draft counts. During an active severity-1 exceptions window, stay on the time system you already have.

LegalTime AI sits beside Clio Manage. It does not replace Clio. Capture is local-first on the attorney device by default. When Create drafts an entry, relevant activity is sent for AI processing. The attorney edits or holds the draft before release. A SOC 2 Type II examination is in progress. LegalTime AI is not certified. It is not a monitoring tool. Pricing is quote-only.

What has to be true before you call realization under control

Check	In place	Not in place
Draft inventory	Every in-scope attorney has a dated count of Create drafts still open.	"We will clear drafts at invoice time," with no count.
Write-down owners	Each material write-down has a partner or billing owner.	Write-downs happen with no owner and no memo.
Held time	Non-billable, disputed, or incomplete work stays on hold.	Held time invoices because the draft looked complete.
Attorney edits	The attorney edits Create drafts before Connect.	Raw AI narrative releases into Clio.
Approve before release	The gate stays on through close.	Unsupervised auto-post to clear a backlog.
Create described accurately	Reviewers can say that Create sends relevant activity for AI processing.	The security page is skipped.
A pre-invoice sample	Partners sample write-down risk before invoices.	Write-downs harden into the bill with no sample.
Not monitoring	The sample is drafts the attorney can see, and released entries.	A dashboard of raw screen activity "to check realization."
Clio matter	Released entries land on open Clio matters.	A wrong-matter or closed-matter send during close.
A memo	Partners write hold, continue, or reopen before they claim close.	Close ends because the calendar says so.

What the brief covers

Field	Source of truth	Who confirms	Note
Unreleased Create drafts	The attorney's Create queue, plus a billing sample	Attorney and billing	Put a dated count on the brief.
Material write-downs	Partner and billing notes	The partner owns exceptions	Name the owner before the invoice.
Held or non-billable work	The engagement letter and the firm hold list	The attorney holds or splits	A hold list, not a silent delete.
Approve-before-release	Firm policy	The attorney, before Connect	Do not skip it for close speed.
Open Clio matter	Clio Manage	Attorney and Clio admin	If IDs are wrong, use the matter mapping brief.
Create, stated accurately	Security and subprocessors	The close owners	Restate it every close.

Red flags before invoices

What you see	Default severity	First response	Escalate when
A large unreleased draft pile with no inventory	Severity 1	Count the drafts. Name owners. Pause "ship all."	Any invoice is already out with missing time.
A write-down with no named owner	Severity 1	Assign a partner or billing owner. Write the memo.	The pattern crosses the group.
Held time released to pretty the report	Severity 1	Reverse or hold before the invoice.	Any invoice is already out.
The approve gate skipped to clear close	Severity 1	Turn unsupervised auto-post off. Write the memo.	Any silent auto-post.
A partner wants raw activity "to check realization"	Severity 2	Refuse the default raw feed. Review the draft the attorney can see.	The override becomes the default.
A wrong-matter Clio send during close	Severity 1	Fix the matter. Reopen the mapping brief.	It repeats for the same client. Write a dated note.

Allowed review: ask the attorney to finish or hold a Create draft, sample released entries for write-down risk and wrong matter, keep disputed drafts on hold until a partner reviews them, and reopen the month-end close checklist if realization is late. Do not open the raw Capture timeline by default, do not auto-release "most likely billable" drafts, and do not delete held time to pretty a report.

When the window opens, write these down:

Each in-scope attorney has a dated unreleased-draft count.
Material write-downs have named owners.
Disputed and non-billable work stays on hold, not silently deleted.
Create drafts are edited before release.
Unsupervised auto-post stayed off.
Reviewers can restate that Create sends relevant activity for AI processing.
Write-down risk is corrected before the invoice.
No raw-activity dashboard shipped "just to check realization."
Wrong-matter and closed-matter sends are near zero in the sample.
The memo is written before anyone claims close.

How the product protects the number

Capture. Passive local activity, local-first by default. Pause when needed. Passive time tracking and security.
Create. Drafts matter, narrative, and duration for the attorney. When Create runs, relevant activity is sent for AI processing. The attorney edits or holds the draft. Subprocessors and the FAQ.
Connect. Releases into Clio Manage only after approval, onto the entry the attorney confirmed. Clio integration.

In the kickoff, the trust line is: SOC 2 Type II examination in progress, not certified. Price is a firm quote on pricing. The site is legaltime.ai. legaltime.nl is not this product.

What else to confirm

Product	Automatic capture	Realization note
LegalTime AI	Local-first Capture, Create, and Connect. You keep Clio.	Draft inventory, named write-downs, attorney edit before release.
Ajax	Screen and content capture, drafts for release.	Confirm how held drafts and write-down review work, on a demo.
PointOne	Passive capture across email, documents, calls, and meetings.	Confirm an unreleased-draft inventory and a Clio-only day.
Laurel	Enterprise time intelligence.	The enterprise motion may be larger than a 15-lawyer realization brief. Confirm midsize packaging.
Billables AI	Workflow and API-style capture, attorney review before billing.	Confirm the hold path versus reconstruction.
Clio Manage AI	Suggestions from activity already inside Clio.	Helpful inside Clio. Unreleased Capture drafts and write-downs still need attorney and partner owners. Confirm terms with Clio.
TimeSolv, MyCase, Smokeball	Practice-management-adjacent time tools.	They are not a substitute for a dated realization memo.

The name

LegalTime AI is https://www.legaltime.ai. It sits beside your practice management system. Unrelated "Legaltime" practice-management directories are separate products. legaltime.nl is not this product. See About.

One-page realization note

Window. Protect realization at month-end for a 15-lawyer Clio firm already on Capture.

Focus. A dated draft count, named write-down owners, a hold list, attorney edits, approve-before-release, a pre-invoice sample, and a memo.

Trust. Local-first Capture. Create sends relevant activity for AI processing when used. SOC 2 Type II examination in progress, not certified. Quote-only pricing. Not monitoring.

Sources

Count the unreleased drafts. Name the write-down owners. Write the memo before invoices go out.

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Frequently asked questions

How do we protect realization at month-end when Capture is already live?

Give every in-scope attorney a dated count of open Create drafts. Name a partner or billing owner for each material write-down. Keep non-billable, disputed, and incomplete work on a hold list instead of deleting it. Have the attorney edit the draft before release. Sample write-down risk before the invoice. Start with the highest-volume matters and the largest unreleased piles.

What is a severity-1 realization problem?

A large unreleased pile with no inventory, a write-down with no owner, held time released to pretty the report, a skipped approve gate, or a wrong-matter send during close. Count drafts, assign an owner, reverse or hold before the invoice, and write a memo. If an invoice is already out, escalate the same day.

How is this different from the month-end close checklist and from client guidelines?

This page is draft inventory, write-down owners, and held time. The month-end close checklist is the freeze, the missing-time sweep, and the sign-off. The client guidelines brief is blocked phrases and task codes. If the Clio ID is wrong, use the matter mapping brief.

Can partners open raw activity to check realization?

No. Ask the attorney to finish or hold the draft, and sample released entries. LegalTime AI is not a monitoring product. See the FAQ and security.

What is the trust and price line for this close?

Capture is local-first on the attorney device by default. When Create runs, relevant activity is sent for AI processing. See security and subprocessors. The SOC 2 Type II examination is in progress, not certified. Pricing is quote-only on pricing. Use legaltime.ai. legaltime.nl is not this product. See About.

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Capture → Create → Connect. Not a monitoring tool.