Owlesq Team · Updated May 2026 · 8 min read
Time Matters has served law firms well for decades — but LexisNexis quietly wound down active development, and the product is reaching a breaking point for most firms. Server maintenance costs, a shrinking pool of certified consultants, and a complete absence of modern integrations have pushed thousands of firms to start planning their exit.
If you've decided to move to Clio Manage — the most widely used cloud practice management platform in North America — this guide gives you the honest, step-by-step picture of what that migration actually involves.
Before getting into mechanics, it's worth naming what's driving the decision. The most common reasons we hear:
End of active development. LexisNexis has made no credible commitment to ongoing investment in Time Matters. There's no mobile app, no modern API ecosystem, and no roadmap for the integrations that clients and courts now expect.
Server infrastructure is expensive. Time Matters runs on Windows Server. For most firms, that means an in-house server or a hosted instance — adding $800–$2,000/month in IT overhead that modern cloud platforms eliminate entirely.
The consultant pool is shrinking. Certified Time Matters consultants are rare and getting rarer. Support is slower and more expensive than it was five years ago.
Pricing no longer matches value. At $40–$60/user/month plus hosting and support, you're paying modern SaaS prices for 1990s architecture.
The most important rule of any migration: do not cancel or decommission Time Matters until your data is fully validated in Clio. You'll need access to both systems in parallel for at least 30 days.
Export from Time Matters:
Data cleanup before import: Before sending anything to Clio, deduplicate contacts, standardize matter naming, and correct any obvious data errors. Cleaning data in Time Matters is easier than cleaning it inside Clio post-import.
Clio offers a free trial sufficient for initial testing. Assign an internal project lead — typically your firm administrator or office manager — and identify two or three power users who will validate the imported data. Contact Clio's onboarding team early. Clio has a dedicated migration service with experience converting Time Matters data. They've seen the edge cases; involve them from the beginning.
Before importing, map your Time Matters data structure to Clio's. Key decisions:
Don't try to import everything at once. Recommended order:
After each stage, have your validation team spot-check a sample of records. Catch problems here rather than in production.
Clio's interface is significantly different from Time Matters. Budget 4–6 hours of structured training per user — not self-service tutorials, but live walkthroughs of the workflows your firm actually uses. Common sticking points: time entry from mobile, matter-based billing, and the client portal, which doesn't exist in Time Matters and will be new to everyone.
Keep Time Matters accessible for at least 30 days after go-live. Staff will inevitably reference historical data while building Clio muscle memory. Set a firm cutoff date — having a date makes it real — and stop entering new data in Time Matters from day one of go-live.
No server infrastructure
Clio runs in the browser on any device. Remote access via VPN is gone.
Native mobile app
Time entry, calendar, and matter access from iOS or Android.
Modern integrations
DocuSign, LawPay, Outlook, Google Calendar, QuickBooks, Zoom, and 200+ others that don't exist in Time Matters.
Client portal
Clients get a secure portal to access documents, messages, and invoices — a meaningful differentiator for client retention.
Active development
Clio ships regular updates. The platform you buy today will be better in a year.
Budget 8–12 weeks for a clean migration. Rushing is the single biggest source of migration regret. Clio's structured onboarding keeps firms on track; use it.
Document migration takes the most time. If you have years of documents inside Time Matters, expect this stage alone to add 2–3 weeks. Large document stores require manual quality control.
Trust accounting validation is non-negotiable. Have your bookkeeper or accountant reconcile every trust balance before going live. A single trust accounting error post-migration can create bar complaint exposure.
Some historical reporting will look different. Clio's reporting structure differs from Time Matters. Your historical reports won't automatically match. Budget time to rebuild key reports in Clio's format.
Ready to start your Clio migration?
Clio's migration team handles Time Matters conversions regularly and can give you an honest timeline estimate before you commit.
Start your Clio free trial →For more context on practice management software options, see our Practice Management Software guide.
Owlesq is an independent legal-tech directory. We have no affiliate relationships with any vendor listed and earn no commission when readers click outbound links. This guide was written independently and represents our honest assessment.