Legal timekeeping software should make it easier for lawyers to capture work, review potential entries, create clear descriptions, and move approved time into the firm's billing workflow.
This checklist helps law firms compare products consistently. It can be used during vendor research, demonstrations, security review, pilot testing, and final selection.
A product does not need every possible feature. It should meet the firm's most important operational, technical, and user adoption requirements.
How to Use This Checklist
Before reviewing products, define the firm's primary goals.
Common goals include:
Goal area | Evaluation goals |
Capture and timeliness | Reducing missed billable hours; Improving same day time entry; Making short tasks easier to capture; Increasing visibility into billable and non billable work |
Entry quality and compliance | Reducing vague billing descriptions; Supporting client billing codes; Reducing prebill corrections |
Lawyer workflow and adoption | Simplifying lawyer review; Improving timekeeper adoption |
Connected systems | Connecting with existing finance systems |
For each checklist item, use one of these ratings:
Rating | Meaning |
Required | The product must meet this requirement |
Preferred | The feature would improve the workflow |
Optional | Useful, but not essential |
Not needed | The firm does not require it |
Needs testing | The vendor claim must be tested in a pilot |
Time Capture Checklist
Confirm which capture methods the product supports.
Capture area | Capabilities to verify |
Direct entry and timers | Manual time entry; Start and stop timers; Mobile time entry; Offline time entry |
Activity sources | Calendar based activity capture; Passive time capture; Document activity capture; Email activity capture; Browser activity capture; Meeting and call capture |
Context and continuity | Billable and non billable time capture; Work activity grouped by day; Work activity grouped by matter; Capture across multiple applications; Support for interrupted tasks; Support for work outside normal office hours |
User control and privacy | Ability to exclude irrelevant applications; Ability to remove personal or unrelated activity; Clear source information for each captured event; No unnecessary keystroke logging or screenshot capture |
Questions to ask:
What activity is captured?
Which applications are supported today?
Is content collected, or only activity metadata?
How is duration estimated?
Can users control which applications are connected?
How are duplicates identified?
Can personal activity be excluded?
Daily Review Checklist
The review process should be fast enough for lawyers to complete every day.
Confirm that users can:
Review stage | Capabilities to verify |
Understand the activity | View captured activity by date; See the source of each activity; See which entries require attention |
Assign and edit | Select the correct client; Select the correct matter; Adjust the duration; Edit the billing description; Merge related activities; Separate unrelated activities |
Classify and clean | Mark time as billable; Mark time as non billable; Remove duplicate activity; Delete irrelevant activity |
Save, release, and confirm | Save a draft entry; Return to incomplete entries; Submit or release approved entries; See confirmation after an entry is released |
Usability | Review time inside a familiar application; Complete a full day of review in a reasonable time; Correct mistakes without administrator support |
During the demonstration, ask the vendor to show a complete daily review rather than a prepared summary screen.
Client and Matter Selection Checklist
Matter selection should be accurate and easy.
Confirm that the product supports:
Search by client name
Search by matter name
Search by matter number
Recent matters
Favorite matters
Clear distinction between similar matters
Closed matter filtering
Suggested matter matching
Manual correction of suggestions
Synchronization with the firm's source system
Multiple offices
Multiple practice groups
Multiple entities
Custom matter fields
Matter level permissions
Conflict related access restrictions
Reliable handling of renamed matters
Reliable handling of closed matters
Clear error messages when matter data is unavailable
Audit history for matter changes
Billing Description Checklist
Strong descriptions should explain the work without inventing details.
Confirm that the product can:
Narrative control | Capabilities to verify |
Draft content | Create or assist with draft narratives; Include the task performed; Include the subject of the work; Include the purpose when appropriate; Support consistent action verbs; Support different practice area styles |
Firm and client rules | Warn about vague descriptions; Support firm approved examples; Support client specific description rules |
Accuracy and confidentiality | Identify duplicate descriptions; Separate unrelated tasks; Avoid unnecessary confidential information; Preserve professional judgment; Prevent invented outcomes or legal conclusions |
Context and audit trail | Retain the original activity context; Record who edited the description; Allow billing team corrections |
Approval and export | Let the timekeeper edit every description; Support review before release; Export the final narrative correctly |
Questions to ask:
What data is used to create a suggested description?
Is customer data used to train external models?
Can artificial intelligence features be disabled?
How does the product reduce invented or inaccurate text?
Can firms create their own description standards?
Billing Code Checklist
For firms that use UTBMS, ABA, LEDES related workflows, or custom codes, confirm support for:
Task codes
Activity codes
Expense codes
UTBMS code sets
ABA code sets
Client specific code sets
Multiple code sets
Code suggestions
Manual code selection
Required code validation
Code correction before submission
Code synchronization with finance systems
Reporting on missing codes
Reporting on corrected codes
Support for custom billing rules
Support for outside counsel guidelines
Clear distinction between task and activity codes
Prevention of invalid code combinations
Audit history for code changes
Export of approved codes with the time entry
Suggested codes should always be reviewed by the timekeeper or billing team.
Integration and Finance Workflow Checklist
Integration Checklist
The product should fit the firm's existing technology environment.
Evaluate integrations with:
Integration group | Systems to evaluate |
Microsoft work systems | Microsoft Teams; Outlook Calendar; Microsoft OneDrive |
Documents and communication | iManage Work; NetDocuments; Web browsers; Email systems; Phone systems |
Legal and finance systems | Practice management systems; Finance and billing systems |
Identity, reporting, and custom connections | Identity providers; Reporting platforms; Custom internal systems; Application programming interfaces; Low code integration tools |
For every integration, ask:
Is it available today?
Is it a standard integration?
Does it require custom work?
What data moves between systems?
How often does synchronization occur?
What permissions are required?
How are errors reported?
Who monitors failures?
Is the integration included in the subscription?
What happens if the firm changes systems?
Finance and Billing Workflow Checklist
Confirm how approved entries move toward billing.
The product should clearly explain:
Workflow area | Questions the vendor should answer |
Master data | How clients are synchronized; How matters are synchronized; How timekeepers are synchronized |
Release and return | How approved entries are released; How rejected entries are returned; Whether release status is visible; Whether batch release is supported; Whether approvals are required |
Quality and correction | How duplicate entries are prevented; How failed transfers are identified; How users correct failed entries |
Entry payload | Whether billing codes are transferred; Whether narratives are transferred correctly; Whether billable status is transferred; Whether non billable entries can be transferred; Whether custom fields are supported |
Architecture and ownership | Whether multiple finance systems are supported; Whether custom integration is available; What implementation work is required; What ongoing maintenance is required |
A legal timekeeping product may improve time capture and entry quality without replacing the firm's billing or practice management system.
Reporting and Analytics Checklist
Useful reporting should help the firm improve the workflow.
Confirm support for:
Same day entry rate
Average entry delay
Missing timekeeper days
Incomplete entries
Draft entries
Unreleased entries
Rejected entries
Matter correction rate
Description correction rate
Billing code correction rate
Captured activity review rate
Billable and non billable time
User adoption
Practice group adoption
Integration failures
Review completion time
Trends by office
Trends by role
Exportable reports
Permission based reporting
Metrics should support coaching and process improvement. They should not pressure users to bill activity that is not permitted or supported.
Security Checklist
Request current security documentation and verify the scope of all claims.
Review:
Security domain | Controls to verify |
Data protection | Encryption in transit; Encryption at rest; Data isolation |
Identity and access | Multi factor authentication; Single sign on; Role based access; Least privilege access; Audit logs; Employee access controls |
Resilience and response | Backup procedures; Disaster recovery; Business continuity; Incident response; Cyber insurance; Breach notification terms |
Assurance and engineering | Vulnerability management; Penetration testing; Secure software development; Change management; Security certifications; Independent assessments |
Vendor and data lifecycle | Subprocessor management; Data residency; Data deletion; Data export |
Ask the vendor to explain what security controls apply specifically to the timekeeping product, not only to the parent company.
Privacy Checklist
Law firms should understand exactly how work activity data is handled.
Confirm:
Which activity types are collected
Whether content is collected
Whether metadata is collected
Whether keystrokes are recorded
Whether screenshots are taken
Whether personal applications can be excluded
Whether users see their activity before others
Who can access captured activity
How long raw activity is retained
How long approved entries are retained
Whether users can delete irrelevant activity
Whether administrators can access private drafts
Whether customer data is used for model training
Where artificial intelligence processing occurs
Which subprocessors receive data
Whether data crosses national borders
How privacy requests are handled
How employee notice is supported
How client confidentiality is protected
How the firm can configure data collection
User Adoption Checklist
A product creates value only when lawyers use it consistently.
Evaluate:
Adoption area | Measures and capabilities |
Daily effort | Daily review time; Number of steps required; Ease of matter selection; Quality of activity grouping; Number of irrelevant activity records; Ease of correcting mistakes |
Suggestion quality | Quality of matter suggestions; Quality of description suggestions |
Access and familiarity | Familiarity of the user interface; Microsoft Teams support; Mobile support; Accessibility |
Enablement and support | Training requirements; Role based training; In product guidance; Support response times; User feedback during the pilot |
Stakeholder adoption | Partner adoption; Associate adoption; Billing team satisfaction |
Ask pilot users whether the product makes daily timekeeping easier. Feature counts do not answer that question.
Implementation Checklist
Request a written implementation plan that covers:
Project scope
Project owner
Vendor responsibilities
Firm responsibilities
User synchronization
Client synchronization
Matter synchronization
Integration setup
Security review
Privacy review
Configuration
Data migration
Testing
Pilot group
Training
Support
Firmwide rollout
Success measures
Post launch review
Ongoing administration
Upgrade process
Change management
Documentation
Escalation process
Exit and data export
Support Checklist
Confirm what happens after launch.
Evaluate:
Standard support hours
Emergency support
Support channels
Response time targets
Resolution time targets
Named account contact
Implementation support
Integration support
Security support
Training resources
Product documentation
Administrator documentation
User documentation
Release notes
Product update communication
Service status page
Incident communication
User community
Feature request process
Escalation procedures
Cost Checklist
Compare total cost, not only the subscription price.
Review:
Price per user
Minimum user count
Minimum contract term
Monthly or annual billing
Implementation fees
Training fees
Integration fees
Customization fees
Data migration fees
Premium support fees
Storage fees
Artificial intelligence usage fees
Security feature fees
Reporting fees
Mobile access fees
Price increases at renewal
Internal administration cost
Internal training cost
Switching cost
Data export cost
Demonstration and Pilot Checklist
Product Demonstration Checklist
Ask the vendor to demonstrate these real workflows:
Create a manual time entry
Start and stop a timer
Convert a calendar event into an entry
Review a document activity
Assign an activity to a matter
Correct an incorrect matter suggestion
Merge related activities
Separate unrelated activities
Adjust a duration
Improve a vague description
Add a task code
Add an activity code
Mark an entry as non billable
Delete irrelevant activity
Save a draft
Find an incomplete entry
Release an approved entry
Correct a failed transfer
Review an audit history
Export a report
Pilot Checklist
A pilot should include different roles, practice areas, and work patterns.
Measure:
Pilot measure | Result |
Same day entry rate | |
Average daily review time | |
Captured activities reviewed | |
Irrelevant activities removed | |
Matter corrections | |
Description corrections | |
Billing code corrections | |
Incomplete drafts | |
Integration failures | |
User satisfaction | |
Billing team satisfaction | |
Support response quality |
Ask pilot users:
Did the product make timekeeping easier?
Which activities were most useful?
Which records created noise?
Were matter suggestions accurate?
Were descriptions helpful?
Did the system fit normal work patterns?
What required too many steps?
What training was missing?
Would the user continue using it?
What should change before rollout?
Weighted Evaluation Scorecard
Use a weighted scorecard to compare products consistently.
Evaluation area | Suggested weight | Vendor A | Vendor B | Vendor C |
Time capture | 15% | |||
Daily review | 15% | |||
Matter matching | 10% | |||
Description quality | 10% | |||
Billing code support | 5% | |||
Integrations | 15% | |||
Finance workflow | 10% | |||
Security and privacy | 10% | |||
Adoption | 5% | |||
Cost and implementation | 5% |
Score each area from 1 to 5.
Score | Meaning |
1 | Does not meet requirements |
2 | Meets requirements with major limitations |
3 | Meets basic requirements |
4 | Meets requirements well |
5 | Exceeds requirements and performs well in testing |
Final Selection Checklist
Before signing a contract, confirm:
Required workflows were demonstrated
Required integrations were verified
Security review was completed
Privacy review was completed
Pilot users approved the workflow
Billing and finance teams approved the process
Implementation responsibilities are documented
Total cost is understood
Contract minimums are understood
Renewal terms are understood
Data ownership is clear
Data export is available
Service levels are documented
Support expectations are documented
Success measures are agreed
Product claims are included in writing
Custom work is clearly scoped
Integration maintenance is assigned
A rollout plan is approved
An exit plan is documented
For a connected workflow, explore Legal Timekeeping Software for Lawyers.
Evaluate MIRA for Legal Timekeeping
MIRA is an AI powered timekeeping and smart capture product for law firms and professional services teams. It helps capture billable and non billable work activity from connected tools such as Microsoft OneDrive, Outlook Calendar, iManage Work, Chrome, and other supported systems.
Timekeepers can review captured activity inside Microsoft Teams, then edit, merge, save, or release approved entries toward connected finance or billing systems. MIRA can also assist with billable descriptions and suggest task or activity codes where relevant.
MIRA focuses on time capture and time entry quality before billing. It does not replace a full billing or practice management platform.
Explore MIRA legal timekeeping
Related Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a legal timekeeping software checklist include?
It should include time capture, daily review, matter selection, billing descriptions, billing codes, integrations, finance workflow, security, privacy, adoption, implementation, support, and cost.
Which legal timekeeping features are most important?
The most important features depend on the firm's goals. Common priorities include timely capture, easy review, accurate matter selection, clear descriptions, finance system integration, and strong user adoption.
Should a law firm require passive time capture?
Passive capture can be valuable for firms that miss short tasks or rely heavily on delayed entry. It should remain reviewable and should not create automatic billing decisions.
How should law firms compare vendors and use a pilot?
Firms should use the same checklist, product demonstration scenarios, pilot measures, and weighted scorecard for every vendor. A pilot shows how each product performs with real users and work patterns and can reveal adoption, integration, privacy, and workflow issues that are not visible during a sales demonstration.
Should legal timekeeping software integrate with Microsoft Teams and billing systems?
Microsoft Teams integration can be useful for firms that already work there because reviewing time inside a familiar application may reduce training and improve daily adoption. The software should also connect reliably to the billing workflow, but it usually does not replace billing software; many products prepare time entries before approved records move into a connected finance system.
How should a firm evaluate artificial intelligence features?
The firm should test accuracy, review controls, data handling, privacy, model training policies, and the risk of invented descriptions or incorrect code suggestions.
What security information should a vendor provide?
The vendor should provide current information about encryption, authentication, access controls, audit logs, incident response, data isolation, subprocessors, retention, security testing, and independent assessments.
What costs are often missed during evaluation?
Commonly missed costs include implementation, integrations, customization, training, premium support, security options, internal administration, renewal increases, and data export.
