Most of the billable revenue a firm loses is not written down or written off. It is never recorded at all. That is the utilization leak, and we quantify it in law firm revenue leakage: work delivered, value created, but no entry, so no invoice and no cash. A quick clarification before the comparison: closing this leak does not mean buying a new timekeeping system. It means connecting the systems where time is already spent, the phone, the inbox, to the one where you already bill. This is a buyer's guide to the difference.
The three ways firms handle time
Every approach is a point on a single spectrum, defined by how much manual effort it demands from the attorney and how much of the work it actually recovers.
| Manual timer / reconstruction | Caddi | |
|---|---|---|
| How it works | Start and stop a timer, or rebuild the day from memory later | Connects your call, email, and matter systems to your billing system and drafts the entries |
| Effort per task | High: an interruption on every task, so it gets skipped | None during work; a quick review afterward |
| Accuracy | Erodes with every hour of delay as memory decays | Reflects the work actually performed, from the record of it |
| Utilization leak | Left wide open; forgotten tasks bill as zero | Closed: billable calls and email become entries whether or not anyone remembers to log them |
| What it maps to | Whatever the attorney can attribute after the fact | The correct matter in TimeSolv or Clio, ready to bill |
What the day feels like, each way
The spec sheet matters less than the lived experience, because the experience is what determines whether the tool actually gets used.
- 1Just do the legal workNo timer, no interruptions, no context-switching tax.
- 2Calls and email flow in automaticallyFrom RingCentral, the inbox, and the matter systems already in use.
- 3Entries are drafted into your billing systemMatter-mapped in TimeSolv or Clio, ready to confirm.
- 4Review and sign off in one passBill for the work actually done, with detail still intact.
What to look for
- It works from where time is already spent. Calls in the phone system, time in the inbox. If it depends on attorneys starting timers, it will be skipped, and you are back to the leak.
- It drafts entries, not just logs. Raw activity is not a time entry. It should map work to the right matter and produce something reviewable in the system you bill from.
- It connects the tools you already run. You should not have to migrate your system of record to fix timekeeping. The right fit automates between your phone system, inbox, DMS, and billing tools like TimeSolv and Clio, rather than adding another one.
- It is governed and auditable. Time data feeds invoices; every drafted entry has to be reviewable and defensible.
How Caddi does it
Caddi is not a timekeeping product, and it does not ask you to replace the one you have. It is the automation layer that connects the systems where time is actually spent, RingCentral where the client calls happen, the inbox where the work happens, and the matter systems in between, to the tools where you already record and bill it, like TimeSolv and Clio. Caddi automates those systems together so billable calls and email turn into drafted, matter-mapped time entries for a quick review, lifting utilization by getting more of the work you already did onto the invoice. It is the same record-to-code approach behind the rest of the business-of-law work Caddi runs: you are not tracking new time, you are reclaiming revenue that is already yours.
For the why behind this, see contemporaneous versus reconstructed time entry and how billable hours work. For the full economics, see law firm revenue leakage and the metrics that predict margin.
Close the utilization leak
See the law-firm overview, browse workflows Caddi runs today, or book a demo to watch Caddi connect your call, email, and billing systems into drafted time entries.
Do more with less
See Caddi in action
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Frequently asked questions
What is automated time capture for law firms?
It is turning the work attorneys already do into billable time entries automatically, rather than relying on timers or end-of-month reconstruction. The most durable version does not add a new timekeeping system; it connects the systems where time is spent, the phone system and the inbox, to the practice-management and billing tools where time is recorded, and drafts entries for a quick review. It targets the utilization leak, the billable time that is worked but never recorded.
What is the difference between a timer, passive tracking, and connecting your systems?
A manual timer requires the attorney to start and stop it for every task, which breaks concentration and gets skipped. Passive tracking logs raw activity but still leaves the attorney to assemble it into entries. Connecting your systems goes further: it pulls the billable work from where it already happened, calls in RingCentral, time in email, and drafts matter-mapped entries into the billing tool you already use. The three sit on a spectrum from most manual effort to least.
Does this increase billable hours?
It increases recorded and collected billable hours, which is the number that matters, without asking anyone to work more. Because most lost time is worked-but-unrecorded, surfacing it recovers revenue the firm already earned. The gain shows up as higher utilization and cleaner realization, not as longer days.
How does Caddi handle time capture?
Caddi is not a timekeeping product and does not replace the one you have. It is the automation layer that connects the systems where time is spent, such as RingCentral for calls and the inbox for email, to the tools where you record and bill it, like TimeSolv and Clio, and automates them together so billable work becomes drafted, matter-mapped entries for review. Caddi learns the workflow from a screen recording and builds and maintains the automation for you. The result is better utilization by reclaiming revenue that is already yours.