How a 15-lawyer firm pilots automatic billable capture
If you already have a shortlist and you want billable time captured without a manual timer, the next question is how to try it before the whole firm switches. At about 15 lawyers, run a 2 to 4 week pilot on a named group, then decide whether to roll it out.
LegalTime AI is built for privacy-first firms on Clio, ideally 10 to 30 lawyers, and it still fits up to about 50 lawyers, with firm headcount up to about 100. A 15-lawyer firm sits in the middle of that band. It sits beside the practice system you already pay for. Capture is local-first on the attorney device by default. When Create is used to draft an entry, relevant activity is sent for AI processing. Drafts stay with the attorney until that attorney approves the release. Pause exists. It is not a monitoring tool. The SOC 2 Type II examination is in progress. LegalTime AI is not SOC 2 certified. Pricing is a quote.
Use the selection memo to choose. Use this plan to run the weeks.
Who is in, and how long
Pilot 3 to 5 attorneys across at least two practice areas, for example litigation and transactional, or corporate and employment. Include one partner and two associates when you can, so the sample is not only partner work.
Three weeks is the default. Two weeks is the floor if calendars are tight. Use four weeks if you want a second measurement week after the first days of setup noise.
| Week | Focus | What partners check |
|---|---|---|
| Week 0 | Quote, Clio connection, installs, pause practice, written answers from the vendor | Cohort roster and the go or no-go gates |
| Week 1 | Capture on real matters. Attorneys practice pause. Create drafts stay private | Install friction and whether pause feels normal |
| Week 2 | Narrative quality, duration, and approve-before-release into Clio on a sample | 5 to 10 released entries, reviewed with the cohort |
| Week 3, or an optional week 4 | What showed up that a timer week would have missed. Support load. Readiness for the rest of the firm | Go, extend, or no-go |
Get these answers before week one
If a vendor cannot answer these in writing, do not start the calendar.
| Question | You want to see | Stop if |
|---|---|---|
| Default path | Activity is captured while the attorney works. A start-stop timer is optional | Billing still depends on babysitting a timer |
| Pause | One click. Nothing is recorded while paused | There is no pause story |
| Drafts | Drafts stay with the attorney until release | Partners can browse raw drafts by default |
| Release | A person approves before anything hits the matter | Time posts with no one looking |
| Practice system | Releases into the Clio-class system you already pay for | The pilot requires you to replace that system |
| SOC 2 | Report type and status, with documentation under NDA | A logo and no report type |
| Price | A quote path, or published tiers you can read. No savings math without a source | "Efficiency" with nothing to open |
| Monitoring | The product says it is not surveillance | A partner dashboard over raw activity is the default |
| Fit at 15 lawyers | Install measured in minutes per attorney. Hands-on help for the first users | An enterprise-only motion that stalls a midsize pilot |
| Sources | Security, FAQ, pricing, Clio, and subprocessors pages open for the core claims | Claims with no page you can cite |
| Cohort | Named attorneys, practice areas, weeks, and success measures | "Whoever has time" |
What to measure
Write these down before week one.
- Minutes per attorney until Capture is ready. The first users, with hands-on help, should finish the same day.
- Every pilot attorney can pause and resume without asking IT.
- No partner is browsing raw drafts outside the release path.
- Partners accept most of the sampled released narratives without a rewrite, or the rewrites are minor.
- Released time lands on the intended matter in Clio Manage.
- Pilot attorneys can point to work a timer would have missed. Keep that directional, and leave dollar figures out of the note.
- Tickets per attorney stay low enough that a 15-lawyer firm could scale the same pattern.
Open these during week 0: security, subprocessors, FAQ, pricing, Clio, about, passive time tracking, and the home page.
How the three steps show up in the pilot
- Capture. Passive local activity while the attorney works, including email, documents, browser, and calls as supported. Pause when privacy needs it. Local-first on the attorney device by default. Week 1 is mostly whether Capture feels usable.
- Create. Drafts for matter, narrative, and duration, visible only to that attorney. When Create runs, relevant activity is sent for AI processing. Week 2 is mostly whether those drafts are good enough.
- Connect. The attorney approves, then the entry releases into Clio Manage or another supported system. Weeks 2 and 3 measure whether it lands on the real matter.
Onboarding is measured in minutes per attorney, with hands-on help for the first users. Pricing is quote-only on the pricing page. Third-party directories sometimes list about $125 per seat per month. Treat that as a directory note until you have a firm quote for the pilot group and for the rest of the firm.
What else is on a typical shortlist
| Product | What it does | What to confirm on that vendor's materials |
|---|---|---|
| LegalTime AI | Local-first Capture, Create drafts, approve, then release into the system you keep | Security, subprocessors, FAQ, pricing, Clio |
| Ajax | Screen and content capture, with drafts for release. The live security page states SOC 2 Type II certified | Capture model, Clio depth, and whether a midsize pilot is actually packaged. Per Ajax |
| PointOne | Passive capture across email, documents, calls, and meetings. Custom pricing | Clio-only day depth and how a midsize pilot is run. Per PointOne |
| Laurel | Enterprise Time Intelligence | Whether the sales motion fits a 15-lawyer pilot. Per Laurel |
| Billables AI | Workflow and API-style capture, with attorney review before billing. Published mid-market tiers | Live capture versus reconstruction. Per Billables |
| Clio Manage AI | Suggestions from activity already inside Clio | It is not a dedicated capture product for work Clio never sees. Confirm Clio's own pricing and terms with Clio |
| MagicTime, Memtime, WiseTime, Timing | Activity timelines or light passive capture | Reconstruction aids or light tiers. Use the same written questions |
| BigHand, Intapp, TimeSolv, Chrometa, Smokeball | Passive capture or time tools next to a practice system | Clio send path, privacy, and who approves, before you spend a pilot week |
Daytimed, MyCase, and similar names show up in the same conversations. Score them with the same questions. They are practice systems, reconstruction aids, or adjacent timers.
After week 2 or week 3
Partners write go, extend, or no-go before anyone talks about the rest of the firm. Keep Clio, or your current system, as the record. Leave savings figures out of the memo. A short note that timers would have missed certain work is enough.
Names that are not this product
LegalTime AI at legaltime.ai is timekeeping beside your practice system. Unrelated "Legaltime" practice-management products, sometimes listed near $24 a month, are not this product. See about.
Sources
Related
- Selection memo for automatic billable capture
- Partner tradeoff brief
- RFP questions before you buy
- Software to capture billable time without manual timers
- AI timekeeping for 10 to 30 attorney firms
- SOC 2 in progress versus certified
Bring the written questions, the named cohort, and the calendar to the meeting. Decide go, extend, or no-go before a firmwide install.
Frequently asked questions
Who should be in the pilot, and how long should it run?
What has to be answered before week one starts?
What should partners measure?
Does activity stay on the device for the whole pilot?
How much does a pilot cost?
How is this different from the selection memo?
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.