How automatic time capture connects to Legalsense, BaseNet, Clio, Aderant and 3E

The practice-management system remains the system of record for clients, matters and billing. Automatic time capture adds a layer before it: reconstructing the task and preparing the entry that the billing system needs. Observing a Word document, an Outlook conversation and browser research is different from posting 0.8 hours to the correct matter with an acceptable narrative.

A connector moves records, not a working-day timeline

A useful connection normally has two directions. The capture product receives enough reference data to recognise the firm's records, such as matter identifiers, names and required activity codes. It returns a structured time entry with the timekeeper, date, matter, duration, narrative, billable status and required codes.

Raw captured activity does not belong in the billing ledger. The lawyer should first review the entry and deliberately release it. The destination system can then apply its own permissions and validation rules.

Legalsense has a clear draft-entry workflow

Legalsense offers the clearest public route for a Dutch integration. Its current APIv3 is a REST API with one base URL per customer installation. Requests act as a particular user and respect that user's permissions, Chinese walls and matter access.

Legalsense also has draft time entries for integrations, API processes and automation. A draft may be incomplete and becomes a normal time entry only after approval. APIv3 has no webhooks, so a connector must poll for changed matters and periodically reconcile the full set.

BaseNet requires a connector to be scoped with the vendor

BaseNet combines dossiers, time registration and invoicing. It publishes an integrations catalogue, but not the same open time-entry API documentation as Legalsense or Clio.

A buyer therefore needs a concrete answer from BaseNet and the capture vendor: how active dossiers are supplied, how reviewed time is written back, which identifiers and activity types are required, and whether the exchange is real-time, scheduled or file-based. The demonstration should end inside BaseNet with a correctly assigned entry, not with a CSV in a download folder.

Clio provides a documented regional API

Clio Manage's API models time entries as Activities. Its create endpoint accepts the work date, matter, user, note, duration and billing information. A billable entry is rejected if the matter requires UTBMS codes and the required task and activity codes are missing.

Clio operates a European API endpoint at eu.app.clio.com. The route is relatively clear: synchronise permitted matter references, then create reviewed TimeEntry activities against the corresponding matter and timekeeper. The pilot must still test permissions, rate visibility, non-billable work, required codes and duplicate prevention.

Aderant and 3E are implementation projects

Aderant Expert or Expert Sierra is the financial and practice-management platform. Aderant iTimekeep is its timekeeping product. A firm already using iTimekeep should decide whether captured entries belong there for validation and submission rather than directly in the financial layer. Aderant does not publish enough interface detail to promise a standard third-party connection without scoping the firm's version, modules and integration route.

Thomson Reuters publishes more detail for 3E. Its API can retrieve and write time-card data, manage pending and posted time cards, and validate records. Access comes through the customer's 3E instance, and no general integration sandbox is available. A 3E connector is therefore a managed implementation with customer credentials and representative test matters.

How Sixminute works with the existing system

Sixminute observes work across the applications used on the device. It organises captured activity on the device, groups related work by task, identifies the likely client and matter, calculates the duration and writes a client-ready narrative.

The lawyer reviews the entries before releasing them into the firm's existing system. The required connector is built during onboarding and tested against that firm's workflow. In Legalsense, it may use the draft-entry route. BaseNet requires an agreed vendor method. Clio and 3E require mapping to their documented time-entry objects. An Aderant implementation must determine whether iTimekeep or Expert is the correct handoff point.

Test the complete release path

Before rollout, use billable, non-billable and code-controlled matters. Confirm that inactive or restricted matters are excluded, durations and rounding arrive correctly, narratives retain the firm's language and duplicate releases are refused. Then disconnect the destination, change a matter after synchronisation and submit an entry without a required code. The connector should report the problem and keep the entry available for correction.

The result to buy is a controlled path from captured work to a reviewed, valid time entry in the system the firm already uses.