Your Time Entry Agent Drafts the Narratives While You Practice Law
The Time Entry Agent in EngageSuite360 takes time capture off your attorneys and billing staff — the lawyers who today rebuild their day from memory at the end of the week, and the billing coordinator who sends entries back for better narratives during pre-bill review. The agent captures the day's calendar events, emails and document activity, drafts time entries with descriptive narratives and reminds attorneys about unrecorded work each evening, so attorneys practice law and billing moves on time.
What it takes off your plate
Ask a billing coordinator about month-end and you'll hear: "I spend the week chasing attorneys for time and narratives." Attorneys record time in batches, days after the work. The short call with opposing counsel, the email to the client, the half hour revising a motion — they slip away.
Entries that do get recorded often lack enough narrative detail for the client to accept them: "review file," "call," "draft." The pre-bill review catches some of these, but it sets off revision cycles that delay invoicing. Unrecorded time and written-down entries leak revenue the firm has earned. The cost is attorney evenings spent on timesheets, a billing team stuck in rework and invoices that go out late.
What the Time Entry Agent does, step by step
The Time Entry Agent starts with the attorney's day as it happened.
- It captures the day's activity. The agent reads calendar events, sent and received emails, and document activity in your document management system, and links each item to the client and matter it concerns.
- It drafts time entries. From that activity, the agent drafts entries with the matter, the date, the duration and a descriptive narrative: who was contacted, about what and to what end.
- It flags entries below the minimum increment. Entries shorter than the firm's minimum billing increment are flagged for the attorney to confirm or combine.
- It sends the end-of-day reminder. Each evening, the agent sends the attorney the draft entries for review and a list of activity that has no entry yet.
- It follows up. When drafts sit unreviewed, the agent reminds the attorney the next morning, before memory fades.
- It posts the approved entries. Once the attorney approves or edits the drafts, the agent posts them to your practice management system, such as Clio.
- It prepares for pre-bill. Entries with thin narratives are flagged before pre-bill review, so the billing coordinator sees fewer surprises.
The attorney approves every entry. The agent never records time the attorney has not confirmed.
Where the work is recorded
Every entry is recorded in EngageSuite360. On the matter: the activity captured, the draft entries, the approvals and edits, and the entries posted. On the client and client organization: the communications behind the time, so a billing question can be answered from the record. The next step is written down — "drafts awaiting attorney review," "entry below minimum increment, attorney to confirm," "posted to billing."
The approved entries live in your practice management and billing system, such as Clio, ready for invoicing through LawPay or QuickBooks.
When the billing coordinator opens EngageSuite360 in the morning, they see which attorneys approved yesterday's time, which drafts are waiting and which entries need a better narrative. An agent that cannot record its results is only a chatbot; this one leaves time entries the client can read and accept.
What your people do instead
Your attorneys spend the evening on the client's matter or at home, not rebuilding their day. Your billing coordinator sends invoices on schedule and answers client billing questions with the detail in front of them.
Clients accept invoices they can understand. When a general counsel reads an entry that says who was called and why, the conversation about the bill becomes a conversation about the matter, which is where your attorneys want it. The EngageSuite360 Time Entry Agent keeps the capture, the drafting and the reminders moving, so your people focus on the work and the client relationship.
Clean billing starts at intake. Read how firms convert intake follow-up into signed retainers and clear the friction from intake and conflict checks.
One next step
Set up EngageSuite360 for legal — clients, client organizations, matters and intakes shaped for a law firm, with communications and the Time Entry Agent built in. Connect one attorney's calendar and email and review tonight's draft entries.
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I'm Victoria, the Legal ambassador here. One useful piece a week for legal owners, written for how the work actually happens — plus first access to the free EngageSuite360 CRM built for legal. Unsubscribe any time.
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