What can practice management add-ins already do?
Clio's Outlook add-in files emails, threads and attachments to a matter in Clio Manage and can add a time entry at the same time. When the time entry template setting is on, an entry is created every time an email is filed. Entries carry a description, the matter, billable or non-billable status, the firm user, an activity category and a UTBMS task code, dated either today or the date the email was received. LEAP's Outlook integration saves emails to a LEAP matter. If AutoTime (Matter Activity Recording) is enabled, a Billable toggle appears, and turning it on records and charges for saving the email.
What are the limits of those add-ins?
Check each tool's documented limits against how your firm works. Clio's help centre says its add-in cannot be used for shared inboxes, so email arriving at a shared address has to be filed some other way. LEAP says it is only partially compatible with New Outlook: saving emails, removing them and changing the matter work, but more advanced automation features are not available there, and LEAP recommends Classic Outlook for full functionality. Neither documents measuring how long someone spent on an email. The time recorded comes from what the user enters, a template or the tool's own rules, so check which applies in yours.
Where does AI help with email time capture?
AI works best on the gaps around filing. It can read an email and suggest the matter from names, reference numbers and the thread, so filing takes one click. It can draft a narrative describing the work, such as 'Reviewed client's email about settlement date and replied confirming next steps', in place of a bare 'Email'. It can list the client emails sent and received each day that were never filed, so the fee earner decides on them before time sheets close. Each of these saves effort without the tool deciding what to charge.
Hypothetical example: a solicitor files 30 client emails on a busy day. The AI suggests a matter for each one; she confirms 27 with one click and corrects 3. At 5pm the unfiled list shows 4 more emails she sent from her phone, and she files them before closing her time sheet. The time recorded against each email stays her decision.
- Matter suggestion from names, references and thread history.
- Narrative drafting in the firm's usual style.
- A daily list of unfiled client emails.
- A duplicate check where a template and a person both created an entry.
Can AI estimate how long an email took?
It can produce an estimate from length, attachments and drafting activity where the tool can see it, but an estimate is not a record of work done. Billing a client on that basis needs the fee earner to confirm the figure. Some firms charge correspondence in fixed units set out in their costs agreement; others record actual time. Which approach you may use depends on your agreement with the client and the professional rules that apply to you, so check with your law society, professional body or adviser. This guide is administrative guidance only.
How do you stop emails being filed to the wrong matter?
Filing an email to the wrong matter can put one client's information in another client's file, and sometimes on their invoice. Have the AI suggest and a person confirm, at least until you have checked its suggestions across a few hundred emails. Require a second look when the suggestion is uncertain, when the email mentions more than one client, or when the sender is new. Review a sample of filed emails each month and track how often the matter was changed after filing. A rising change rate means the suggestions need retuning.
Should automated emails be billed?
If an AI tool sends routine updates, acknowledgements or reminders, decide in advance whether they are billable. A client who learns an email was automated may question a charge for it. Write the rule into your billing policy and, where relevant, the costs agreement, and set the time entry template to non-billable for automated categories. Record the time a person spends reviewing and approving AI drafts as ordinary work. Read the first few billing cycles line by line after any change to how email time is captured.