Clean drafts and held time before the invoice goes out
Capture is already on, and invoices are close. The question is whether Create drafts, held time, and known client-rule problems are cleaned before the bill goes out. At a 15-lawyer firm, that cleanup is a short written brief, not a new monitoring feed.
LegalTime AI sits beside Clio Manage. Matters stay in Clio. Approved entries release into Clio. Capture is local-first on the attorney device by default. When Create is used, relevant activity is sent for AI processing. Drafts stay with the attorney until 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. It is built for firms of about 10 to 30 lawyers, and it still fits up to about 50 lawyers, with firm headcount up to about 100.
This is not the month-end realization note, the client-guidelines setup, or the matter map. Realization covers write-downs and unreleased drafts at close. Guidelines are where the client rules are written. Matter mapping is the Clio client and matter ids. This brief is the last window: clean drafts, name an owner for held time, and flag narratives that miss a known rule.
What has to be true before you call the pre-bill clean
Start with the highest-volume matters and the attorneys who have the most open drafts or held time. Do not stand up a second time system while a serious exception is still open. If cleanup is already late, reopen the month-end close checklist. If something is breaking, reopen the exceptions note.
| Check | In good shape | Stop and fix |
|---|---|---|
| Open Create drafts | Every in-scope attorney has cleared them, or dated a cleanup | "We will clean drafts after the invoice batch," with no list |
| Held time | Each held item has a partner or billing owner | Held time sits with no owner until it disappears |
| Client rules | Narratives that miss a known rule are flagged before send | A complete-looking draft invoices a mismatch |
| Attorney edit | The attorney edits the Create draft before Connect | A raw AI narrative releases into Clio |
| Approve step | Approve-before-release stays on through this window | Auto-post is turned on to clear the backlog |
| Create processing | Reviewers can say that Create sends relevant activity for AI processing | The security page was skipped |
| Sample | Partners sample narrative and held-time risk before invoices | Problems harden into the bill with no sample |
| Not monitoring | The sample is drafts the attorney can see, and entries already released | A raw screen feed "to check hygiene" |
| Clio matter | Released entries land on open Clio matters | A wrong matter or a closed matter goes out in this window |
| Memo | Partners write hold, continue, or reopen before anyone says the pre-bill is clean | The window ends because the calendar says so |
Where each item lives
| Item | Where it comes from | Who confirms |
|---|---|---|
| Open Create drafts | The attorney's Create queue, plus a billing sample | Attorney and billing, with a date on the brief |
| Held or disputed time | The engagement letter and the firm's hold list | A named partner or billing owner. Clear it. Do not silently delete it |
| Guideline flags | Client billing rules, and the client guidelines brief | Attorney flags. Partner samples |
| Approve-before-release | Firm policy | The attorney, before Connect. Do not skip it for speed |
| Open Clio matter | Clio Manage | Attorney and the Clio admin. If ids are wrong, use the matter mapping brief |
| Create processing | Security and subprocessors | Restate it in every pre-bill window |
Problems that should stop the invoice
| What you see | First response | Escalate when |
|---|---|---|
| A large open-draft pile and no cleanup plan | Count the drafts, name owners, and pause "ship all" | Any invoice already went out with a dirty narrative |
| Held time with no owner | Assign a partner or billing owner and write it down | The same pattern shows up across the group |
| A guideline miss released because the draft looked finished | Hold or rewrite before the invoice | Any invoice already went out |
| The approve step skipped to clear the backlog | Turn unsupervised posting off and write a memo | Any silent auto-post |
| A partner wants raw activity "to check hygiene" | Review the draft the attorney can see. Do not open a raw feed by default | That override becomes the habit |
| Time released to the wrong Clio matter | Fix the matter and reopen the mapping brief | It repeats for the same client. Date the note |
Partners may ask an attorney to finish, hold, or rewrite a Create draft. They may sample released entries for guideline flags and wrong matters. They may keep a disputed draft on hold until a partner clears it. They may reopen the month-end close checklist if hygiene is late. They may restate, with the security and subprocessors links, that Create sends relevant activity for AI processing.
They do not get a default raw Capture timeline, a surveillance dashboard, an auto-release of "most likely billable" drafts, or a deleted hold that makes the report look tidy.
What "clean" means this window
- Each in-scope attorney has a dated plan for open drafts.
- Held items have named clearance owners.
- Known client-rule mismatches are flagged before send.
- Create drafts are edited before release.
- Unsupervised auto-post stayed off.
- Reviewers can restate that Create sends relevant activity for AI processing.
- Narrative and held-time problems found in the sample are corrected before the invoice.
- No new raw-activity dashboard was added for this check.
- Wrong-matter and closed-matter sends are near zero in the sample.
- Partners write hold, continue, or reopen before anyone claims the pre-bill is clean.
Capture records passive local activity and can be paused. Create drafts matter, narrative, and duration, and the attorney edits or holds the draft. Connect releases into Clio only after approval, onto the matter the attorney confirmed. That is the list partners sample. It does not require a raw activity feed.
Say the SOC 2 status in the kickoff: Type II examination in progress, not certified. Pricing stays a quote on the pricing page.
What else you might be comparing
| Product | What it does | What to confirm on that vendor's materials |
|---|---|---|
| LegalTime AI | Local-first Capture, then Create, then release into Clio after approval | Security, subprocessors, Clio, FAQ |
| Ajax | Screen and content capture, with drafts for release | How held drafts and pre-bill review work. Per Ajax |
| PointOne | Passive capture across email, documents, calls, and meetings | Open-draft cleanup and a Clio-only day. Per PointOne |
| Laurel | Enterprise Time Intelligence | Whether a 15-lawyer hygiene window is in the packaging. Per Laurel |
| Billables AI | Workflow and API-style capture, with attorney review before billing | How a hold works, versus reconstruction. Per Billables |
| Clio Manage AI | Suggestions from activity already inside Clio | Open Capture drafts and held time still need an attorney or a partner as owner. Confirm Clio's pricing and terms with Clio |
| TimeSolv, MyCase, Smokeball | Time tools next to a practice system | They are not a substitute for a dated hygiene memo |
Names that are not this product
LegalTime AI is https://www.legaltime.ai, timekeeping beside your practice system. legaltime.nl is not this product. Unrelated "Legaltime" practice-management listings are not this product. See about.
Sources
Related
- Month-end realization brief
- Client guidelines brief
- Matter mapping brief
- Month-end close checklist
- 30-day operating cadence for Clio firms
- AI timekeeping for Clio Manage
Bring this brief when the question is how to clean drafts and held time before invoices. Keep attorneys editing Create drafts. Write hold, continue, or reopen before the bills go out.
Frequently asked questions
What does pre-bill hygiene cover once Capture is already on?
Who clears held time?
Is pre-bill review the same as monitoring?
Does LegalTime AI replace Clio for the pre-bill?
Is LegalTime AI SOC 2 certified?
Is this the same product as legaltime.nl?
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Capture → Create → Connect. Not a monitoring tool.