Sixminute: automatic timekeeping for law firms

Unison Labs introduces Sixminute, automatic timekeeping for law firms, available since September 2026 on Windows and macOS. It records work across every computer application, phone calls and meetings, then writes one entry per task with its client, matter, duration and client-ready narrative. The lawyer reviews and releases the entries into the firm's existing system.

The mobile app runs on iOS and Android, and meetings are covered through Outlook and Google Calendar. Automatic time capture and AI entry writing give lawyers a complete timesheet to review at the end of the day.

Each task becomes a complete time entry

The proposed timesheet contains one entry per task, already matched to the client and matter. Each entry includes the duration and a client-ready narrative, so the lawyer can check the substance of the work alongside the time spent. The lawyer can edit an entry before releasing it into the firm's practice-management or billing system.

An invented example for this article illustrates the result: Client: Alder Ltd; matter: warehouse lease; duration: 30 minutes; narrative: Review landlord's proposed amendments to the repair clause and draft advice on the tenant's obligations.

For that example, the review is specific: confirm that the repair-clause work belongs to the lease matter and that the duration reflects the work completed. The narrative gives the client an account of what the lawyer did.

Forgotten work leaves gaps in the timesheet

Lawyers reduce recorded time when they cannot remember how long a task took. In Primary Research Group's 2014 survey of lawyers at US firms with 25 or more lawyers, 57.7% said they had done this. Respondents estimated an average reduction of 5.9 hours in the previous month. Remembering that an email was answered may still leave uncertainty about the time spent preparing the response.

The problem also appeared in a 2010 self-selected survey sponsored by Adam Smith, Esq. and timekeeping vendor Smart WebParts, which had 155 completed responses. Respondents estimated about 85 minutes of billable time went unrecorded each week. These historical findings explain the problem automatic capture addresses: completed work can disappear from a timesheet when recording depends on later recollection. A record of the day gives the lawyer something concrete to check before that detail is forgotten.

How Sixminute records work across every application

Sixminute records the whole working day and writes the time entries automatically, including matter matching and client-ready AI narratives. Computer Event Reconstruction (CER) reconstructs the day from the events produced as the lawyer works, covering every application without integrations to set up.

That coverage includes case-management systems and court portals, alongside specialist drafting tools and PDF readers. A lawyer can move between applications during a matter without leaving gaps because an application has no timekeeping integration. The firm keeps the tools its lawyers already use.

Capture is selective: the software takes no screenshots and does not log keystrokes. Work is filtered on the device, and only what the timesheet needs leaves it. The computer keeps no copy of the captured activity afterwards.

Phone calls are covered through the mobile app, while Outlook and Google Calendar cover meetings away from the desk. The resulting entries stay private until the lawyer reviews and releases them into the firm's existing system. This brings computer work and time away from the desk into the same daily review.

The working day stays private to each lawyer

Each lawyer's working day stays private, whatever another person's role in the firm. Partners and administrators see released entries; nobody else reads the lawyer's day. The lawyer controls which entries leave that private review and reach the firm's billing system.

Information sent to the service is encrypted with the firm's own key and kept only for the firm's retention period. Hosting is in the EU. Firm data is never used to train AI models, and all AI processing runs under zero data retention agreements, so model providers keep nothing.

These are concrete points for a firm's confidentiality review. The firm can examine who sees draft work, what leaves the device and the agreed retention period. The guide to confidentiality in automatic time capture provides further questions to use during that assessment.

Setup takes about 5 minutes

Setting up the software takes about 5 minutes, with no applications to connect individually. Lawyers using it spend about 6 minutes a day reviewing and releasing their timesheet. That review covers the proposed entries for the working day, including the work recorded on the phone and through the calendar.

In Sixminute's tests, lawyers billed 9 to 15% more hours for the same work. The finding concerns work already completed, recovered through automatic recording of the day.

A firm assessing the software can follow a completed task through to its proposed entry. The demonstration should show the matter match and narrative together with the duration, then the lawyer's review before release. That gives the firm a practical way to assess both capture coverage and the work involved in checking the timesheet.

Unison Labs develops the software and CER

Unison Labs is the company behind the software and the developer of its proprietary Computer Event Reconstruction technology. Its legal name is Unison Laboratories B.V.. The company describes itself as an Amsterdam-based applied AI lab.

Press enquiries: Raf Mevis, co-founder and CTO, raf@unisonlabs.ai.

Firms can start with a demonstration

Firms can book a demonstration to see capture, entry writing and release into their existing system. The firm should bring a representative workflow and ask to follow it through the proposed timesheet, including a phone call or calendar meeting.

Before proceeding, the firm should confirm its retention period and inspect who can see drafts and released entries. It should also request a firm-specific quotation and confirm the steps for releasing approved entries into its current billing system.