Legal time tracking software
Time tracking that records the work while it happens.
Most billable time is lost between doing the work and writing it down. ModulawAI’s legal time tracking software captures research, calls, drafting and review against the matter as they happen, in six-minute or custom increments, lets the fee earner tidy the narrative before it bills, and sends it to the invoice without re-keying. Because the AI runs inside the matter, the time spent on AI-assisted work is captured too.
What it covers
From the first minute to the paid invoice.
Time tracking is only useful if it ends in a bill the client pays. These are the four steps, and they sit in one system.
Capture
Timers on the matter, on the document and on the call. Research and drafting done through the AI assistant are timed automatically against the file they were done in.
Review
Entries are editable before billing: narrative, duration, rate, billable or not. A supervising partner sees unbilled work in progress by matter and fee earner.
Bill
Approved time flows to a matter invoice in the client’s currency, alongside fixed fees, disbursements and retainer draw-downs. See law firm billing software.
Collect and report
Online payment through the client portal, trust and retainer reconciliation, and reports on recorded, billed and collected hours by fee earner, matter and client.
In depth
Where the time actually goes missing.
Reconstruction
Friday afternoon timesheets under-record by design.
A fee earner reconstructing the week from memory rounds down, forgets the twelve-minute call and skips the email that took twenty minutes to get right. Capturing at the point of work removes the reconstruction. Because ModulawAI is where the matter, the document, the call log and the research already live, the timer is attached to the thing being done rather than to a separate app the lawyer has to remember to open.
AI-assisted work
When the AI does the reading, what do you bill?
The honest answer is the lawyer’s time reviewing and applying the output, plus whatever the engagement letter says about fixed fees or technology charges. ModulawAI records the review time against the matter and keeps the AI output attached to the file, so the narrative on the bill can say exactly what was done. Firms moving to fixed fees for AI-heavy work use the same data to see whether the fee was right.
Realisation
Recorded, billed, collected: three different numbers.
Time tracking software that stops at recorded hours hides the write-offs. ModulawAI reports on all three so a managing partner can see which matter types, clients and fee earners leak between recording and collection, and fix the pricing rather than the timesheet.
Evidence
The numbers behind the leak.
Three ratios decide what a fee earner is actually worth to a firm, and Clio’s Legal Trends Report has tracked all three across tens of thousands of firms since 2016. Utilisation is the share of an eight-hour day spent on billable work, and it sits at around 37%, which is 2.9 billable hours per day. Realisation is the share of that billable work which actually reaches an invoice, and Clio’s 2025 report puts it at 88%, meaning 12% of billable effort is written off before it is ever sent. Collection is the share of the invoice that gets paid, reported at roughly $910 for every $1,000 billed.
Compound them and the picture is stark. Of an eight-hour day, about 2.9 hours are billable, about 2.55 hours are billed, and about 2.3 hours are collected. Roughly 29% of a working day converts to revenue. Every additional twelve-minute entry that gets captured rather than reconstructed moves the first ratio, which is the one a firm controls most directly and the one that timesheet software exists to protect.
What AI does to the billable hour, and what to do about it
Thomson Reuters’ Future of Professionals 2025 report estimates AI will free about 240 hours per professional per year, up from an estimated 200 in 2024, worth roughly $19,000 per professional annually. Clio’s analysis goes further, estimating that as much as 74% of hourly billable tasks are exposed to automation to some degree, with the exposure highest for administrative roles at 81% and lower for lawyers at 57%. A firm that bills purely by the hour and does the same work in less time bills less. That is the arithmetic driving the shift in pricing: Clio reports 59% of firms now using flat fees exclusively or alongside hourly rates.
The ethical constraint is fixed regardless of the pricing model. ABA Formal Opinion 512, issued 29 July 2024, states that time billed must reflect the time actually spent, including when generative AI is used, and that a subscription fee for access to an AI tool is overhead rather than a client disbursement. In practice this means a firm cannot bill the hour the associate would have spent before the tool existed, and cannot pass the licence cost through as an expense. It can bill the review time, and it can price the outcome. Both need the time data, which is the argument for continuing to record against fixed-fee matters even when the client never sees an hourly figure.
Sources
- Clio, Legal Trends Report, utilisation, realisation and collection benchmarks; 2025 edition published 16 October 2025.
- Clio, How to calculate utilization rate, for the 37% and 2.9 hours figures.
- Thomson Reuters Institute, Future of Professionals 2025.
- ABA Formal Opinion 512 (29 July 2024), on fees and AI.
FAQ
Questions, addressed.
What is legal time tracking software?
Legal time tracking software records the time a lawyer spends on each matter so it can be billed, reviewed and reported. Good systems capture time at the point of work rather than from memory, support six-minute or custom increments and multiple rates, let entries be edited before billing, and flow directly into invoicing. ModulawAI does this inside the practice management platform, so no separate timer app is needed.
Does it support six-minute units?
Yes. Six-minute units are the default; increments and rounding rules are configurable per workspace, and hourly rates can be set per fee earner, per client and per matter.
Can time be recorded offline or on a phone?
The platform runs in any browser and there is a desktop application with offline synchronisation, so time recorded in court or on a train syncs when a connection returns.
Does it track time for fixed-fee matters?
Yes. Time is recorded against fixed-fee matters as non-billable work in progress, so the firm can see whether the fee covered the effort and price the next one accordingly.
Is time tracking sold separately?
No. It is part of the platform, priced per seat with usage-based credits. See pricing.
Related
Keep reading.
- Law firm billing software: from approved time to paid invoice.
- Cloud-based legal practice management software: the working day around the timer.
- Legal practice management software UK: six-minute units, lock-up and realisation.
- Law firm management software: running the firm as a business.
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