Law Firm Pre-Bill Automation
The monthly billing cycle stalls while partners chase each other for edits. This workflow compiles draft pre-bills, routes them to each attorney, and nudges the laggards before the deadline. Free n8n workflow, yours to keep.
Import it into n8n
- The button above downloads the workflow as a .json file — that is the whole download.
- In n8n, open the workflows list, choose Import from File, and select the file you just downloaded.
- Open each node flagged with a warning and connect your own credentials — none of ours are in the file.
- Run it once manually before you activate it, and check the output is what you expect.
How it works
- Runs on a monthly schedule and fetches all draft pre-bills from the Clio bills API.
- Groups the draft pre-bills by each matter’s responsible attorney and skips processing if no drafts are found.
- Builds and sends one internal review email per attorney listing their draft pre-bills with a link to Clio, and logs the routing event by calling a separate guardrail/audit workflow.
- Runs daily on a schedule and fetches the current list of draft pre-bills from Clio.
- Calculates how long each pre-bill has been in draft and selects only those hitting reminder, urgent, or overdue thresholds.
- Sends grouped reminder/urgent emails to attorneys for due items and sends grouped escalation emails to the managing partner for overdue items, logging each notification through the guardrail/audit workflow.
Compliance: assisted draft, always reviewed
This uses AI to draft from your own records, then sends the drafts only to attorneys at your firm for review. It never contacts clients or courts, and nothing is billed or posted until an attorney approves it.
What’s inside
- The pre-bill assembler workflowImport one JSON file. It compiles draft pre-bills at the start of the cycle.
- Per-attorney routingEach attorney gets their pre-bills to edit, without a group email scramble.
- Deadline nudgesAutomatic reminders to the laggards so the cycle does not stall on one person.
- 20-minute deploy guide + LoomConnect your billing export and messaging channel. No developer needed.
✓ Works great when
- Your billing cycle slips because edits get stuck with one partner
- You want pre-bills routed automatically instead of by hand
- You want gentle nudges to keep the cycle moving
✗ What breaks at scale
- You want it pulling pre-bills straight from your billing system
- You need approval tracking and locked final bills
- You want cycle-time reporting month over month
Frequently asked
What platform does this run on?
It runs on n8n, a free open-source automation tool you host yourself. Import one workflow file and connect your billing export. Nothing is locked to us.
Does it change my bills?
No. It assembles drafts and routes them to the right attorney for edits. Every change is made by a person. It just removes the chasing.
Is pre-bill routing compliant?
Yes. It uses AI to draft a short priority note for each pre-bill, then emails the drafts only to the attorneys at your firm for review. It never contacts clients, never changes a bill, and never makes a billing judgment. Every edit is made by a person.
Can you connect it to my billing system?
Yes. The free version works from an export. Direct integration with approval tracking is a Quick-Win Build, from $1,500, typically live within a week.
Want the version built for your firm?
Done-for-You Build.
The free workflow assembles and routes pre-bills. When you want it pulling from your billing system with approval tracking and reporting, that is a Quick-Win Build. We wire it into your stack and hand it back tested.
What you get
- Pre-bills pulled straight from your billing system
- Approval tracking and locked final bills
- Cycle-time reporting month over month
- Escalation rules tuned to your firm
