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Legal practice management and billing

How to find and size your Clio data.

Find how many matters, time entries and bills Clio holds and how a full-history export works, with the client-consent rules that apply.

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Find how much you have

  1. Sign in to Clio Manage with an administrator login. Clio says only administrators can export data in bulk, and the Matters page lists every matter your permissions allow, so a narrower login can undercount.

  2. Go to Matters and pick the All quick filter. Clio uses three statuses, Open, Pending and Closed, and says closing a matter does not change its contents, so All covers finished work as well. Clear any other filters so nothing is hidden.

  3. Scroll to the bottom of the page, click Export, choose CSV, and choose either every column or only the visible ones. Clio says the file covers all matters for the applied filters, not just the page on screen, and that it holds only what was entered on the matter form. Count the rows. That is your matter count.

  4. Open the Exports page (app.clio.com/export in North America, ca.app.clio.com/export in Canada) and click Excel ready CSV beside Time entries and Expense entries. Count the rows in each file, then open a few to see whether entries carry real written descriptions or only short labels. That decides whether the entries are worth describing as text.

  5. For bills, go to Billing, choose Bills, set the bill state to All bills, scroll to the bottom, click Export and choose CSV. Count the rows. Clio's bill states are Draft, Pending approval, Unpaid, Paid, All bills and Archive.

  6. The Clio help articles we reviewed describe no document total. Open Documents, use Visible columns to show Size, and sample matters of different ages to see how many files a typical matter holds, then scale by your matter count and report the result as an estimate. Clio's integration article says documents uploaded through the NetDocuments tab appear in both products, so if your firm links NetDocuments, size that cabinet in the NetDocuments guide as well.

  7. Note the earliest date. The matter dashboard's Details section shows each matter's Open date, and sorting the Time entries file by date shows when your activity records begin. On Signature and Elite plans in the US, the Matters dataset in custom reports includes matter open and close dates.

  8. If you also use Clio Grow for intake, count it separately. In Grow, go to Matters, choose View all, Intake or Hired, click Export all matters to CSV, then Send CSV. Clio emails you a link to the file.

What to put on your intake

Your intake has five boxes for each system. Here is what goes in each one for Clio.

What does it hold?
Matters with their contacts, notes, tasks, calendar entries, time and expense entries, bills and documents, and in Clio Grow the intake record before a matter was hired. Describe it by the firm's work, for example: closed matters by practice area, with tasks, time entries and bills. Do not list client or matter names.
Data types
Structured records for matters, time entries and bills. Add Text if your matter notes and time-entry descriptions are substantial, or if you hold documents you might license. Leave Image, Audio and Video off unless you store such files in Clio.
How big is it?
Choose Matters and enter the row count from your Matters export. Put the counts for time entries and bills in the description. A count is only a size. Sizing never needs matter names, client names or documents.
Verified or estimated
Verified when the count comes from a Matters export with the All filter on. Estimated when you sampled, counted one practice area or one year, or used a figure from memory. The document count is always estimated.
Records start
The Open date of your oldest matter. If the firm moved from another system, say when the Clio records begin, because older matters may have been brought in as a batch.

Exporting the full history

If a buyer licenses your records, this is how the full history comes out of Clio.

  1. A buyer export happens only after a license is signed and the scope is agreed. For legal records the scope has a second gate: matter-level material moves only with documented client consent, and client details are removed inside the firm before anything leaves it. Your ethics counsel decides whether what's left is de-identified enough that neither the client nor the situation can be identified, but that doesn't replace the consent. ABA Model Rule 1.6 and ABA Formal Opinion 512 are the starting points. Not legal advice.

  2. An administrator opens the Exports page (app.clio.com/export in North America, ca.app.clio.com/export in Canada) and clicks Excel ready CSV beside each type in scope: Calendar entries, Communications, Contact notes, Contact related matters, Contacts, Expense entries, Matter notes, Matters, Tasks and Time entries. Clio says the files are CSV and can be used with its migration templates.

  3. Bills are not on that list. From Billing, choose Bills, set a bill state and any filters, scroll to the bottom and click Export. Clio also lets you download bills in bulk as CSV, LEDES 1998B, LEDES 1998BI, LEDES XML 2.0 and LEDES XML 2.1. On a matter with LEDES billing turned on, Clio requires a UTBMS task code and an activity category on every billable time entry, so those entries carry a standard label for the kind of work.

  4. Activities can also be exported from the Activities page, or from a matter's Activities subtab, as CSV or PDF. In the CSV, Created at is the date the entry was created and Updated at is the date it was last edited.

  5. Documents are separate. In Documents, tick the files and folders and click the download icon in the actions bar. Clio combines a bulk download into one .zip file and downloads single files in their original format. Earlier versions download one at a time: open the file, choose the Versions tab, hover over a version and select Download this version.

  6. For reports, a user with Reports permission can run Classic reports and save the filters as a preset, and on Signature and Elite plans in the US can build custom reports from datasets such as Matters, Bills and Time entry productivity. These are summaries, not a replacement for the record-level files above.

  7. Developers can build integrations through Clio's APIs. Clio's help center points to its developer documentation hub for account setup, authentication and the API reference. We did not review rate limits or which records the API returns, so ask Clio what applies to your account.

  8. Under the license, client and contact names, matter names and numbers, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and names typed into notes, task text and time-entry descriptions are removed inside the firm before anything leaves it. Removal alone does not settle the ethics question, so the client consent in the first step still applies.

We only ask for an export after you sign a license and agree the scope. Sizing your data for the intake never needs one.

Limits to know

  • There is no single export of everything. The Exports page covers ten record types. Bills, documents and reports each come out through their own screens, so check that every file carries matter and contact identifiers you can join on.
  • Only administrators can export in bulk. The matter export from the Matters page holds only what was entered on the matter form. To get activities or transactions for a matter, Clio says to export from that matter's own subtab.
  • A filtered export is a partial export. The Matters and Activities exports follow whatever filters are on, and Clio says a date range chosen on the Activities page keeps applying until you change it, even after you refresh or leave Clio.
  • Deleting is easy to do and hard to undo. A deleted matter takes its tasks, notes and links to activities, bills, documents and calendar events with it, and Clio says recovery from Settings, then Recovery Bin, covers up to six months and may be only partly successful. Clio advises closing matters rather than deleting them, and it will not delete a matter that has paid invoices.
  • Deleted documents sit in Trash for 30 days. After that, or after Empty Trash, the file and its version history are gone and cannot be recovered. If your firm clears Trash on a schedule, older drafts may already be gone.
  • Clio also keeps client trust account records, including trust balances and trust reports. We scope trust ledgers, the conflicts list and client funds records out by default, because they carry high risk and little training value, so you do not need to touch them for sizing.
  • Documents are not only your own work. Clio says research downloaded from Clio Library can be uploaded to a matter. That research is someone else's published material, not your firm's work. Matter folders can also hold court filings and documents from the other side. Those are excluded unless you can show you own them and are free to license them.
  • Public does not mean free to license. ABA Formal Opinion 480 says information in a court order or other public record is still covered by Rule 1.6, and Comment [3] to the rule covers information relating to the representation whatever its source. Check the version of the rule in each state where your lawyers are licensed. Not legal advice.
  • Communications entries and matter notes can hold privileged correspondence and strategy. They are scoped last and only for matters where the client has consented.

This guide isn't legal advice. Check your contracts, and any recording-consent rules that apply, with your own lawyer.

Why buyers value it

Clio is where a small or mid-size firm's matter lifecycle and billing sit: how matters were opened and staged, which tasks and deadlines followed, how time was described and billed, and how bills were paid. For buyers building legal agents, practice-management features and billing tools, the useful part is the sequence and the outcome, not any single document.

Most of that is information about clients, and the professional rules treat it that way. What can move is narrower: the firm's own templates, task lists and workflow structure that hold no client information, plus matter-level material, billing narratives included, from clients who have given documented, informed consent, with client identifiers removed inside the firm. Years of continuous history with consistent practice areas and activity descriptions make even that narrower set more useful to a buyer.

What stays private

Client and contact names, matter names and numbers, opposing parties, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and any names typed into notes, task text or time-entry descriptions are removed before delivery under the license. Dates and amounts may be generalized when they could point to one matter.

Removal does not by itself make a record safe to license. The confidentiality rule also covers a disclosure that reveals nothing protected on its face but could reasonably lead someone to discover it, and it allows a hypothetical only when there is no reasonable likelihood the listener could work out who the client is or what the situation was (ABA Model Rule 1.6, Comment 4 (opens in a new tab)). Whether a set of records meets that bar is a judgment for your ethics counsel, not a script. For matter-level material, we require a separate, specific client consent, because ABA Formal Opinion 512 (opens in a new tab) says general engagement-letter language is not enough when client information goes into a self-learning AI tool. Not legal advice.

Left out by default: privileged advice, strategy and opinion work product on open matters; anything under a protective order or seal and documents produced by other parties; trust account ledgers and client funds records; the conflicts list and client list; intake records from people who never hired the firm; medical records; research saved from Clio Library; and employee or personnel records. Criminal, juvenile, family and immigration matters, and anything involving minors, are out by default even when de-identified. Your logins, user list and permissions are not part of the license.

Common questions

A count names no one, so sizing does not move any client information, and the intake never asks for matter names, client names or documents. If a count could point to a client, such as a very small practice area, ask your ethics counsel. Consent matters before any matter-level material moves. ABA Model Rule 1.6 bars revealing information relating to a representation unless the client gives informed consent, the disclosure is impliedly authorized, or an exception applies. Not legal advice.

Clio Grow holds intake: leads, contacts and matters before they are hired. Count it separately, because Grow has its own CSV export for contacts and matters. Intake records from people who never hired the firm are excluded by default.

Close them, and do not delete them. Clio advises closing, which keeps everything in place. Deleting a matter removes its notes and tasks and its links to bills, documents and calendar events, and the Recovery Bin may only partly restore it. A tidy count is not worth losing history a buyer would value.

Sources

Vendor documentation, checked . Screens and plans change, so if a step looks different in your account, check with Clio.

Related guides for systems that often sit alongside it.

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Filevine

Find how many matters (projects), documents and billing entries Filevine holds and how a full-history export works, with consent and medical-record rules.

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Find how many documents and workspaces NetDocuments holds and how a full-history export works, with the client-consent rules that apply to matter files.

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iManage Work

Find how many documents and workspaces iManage Work holds and how a full-history export works, with the client-consent rules that apply to matter files.

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Find how many transactions and projects QuickBooks holds, online or desktop, and how a full-history export works.