A firm's operations manual usually covers the policies. The procedures, meaning which screen, which field, and what to do when the court portal rejects a filing, live with the paralegal or legal assistant who has done it the longest.
Which firm procedures should you document first?
Start with procedures where a missed step causes real trouble and where the steps change by court, client, or attorney. Each item below lists the decision points a useful SOP has to cover.
- Intake and conflict checks. Taking a new inquiry and running conflicts. Decision points: which parties get searched, how name variations are handled, and who clears a possible match.
- Matter opening. Creating the matter in your practice management system after engagement. Decision points: matter naming and numbering, billing arrangement and rates, responsible attorney, and which documents must be in the file before work starts.
- E-filing in court portals. Preparing and submitting filings. Decision points: which court and portal, how documents are named and combined, what to do when a filing is rejected, and where the stamped copy and receipt get saved.
- Docketing and calendaring entries. Entering deadlines and hearings. Decision points: who calculates a deadline and who checks it, which calendars get the entry, and how reminders are set. SopWow documents how staff enter what the firm decides; it does not calculate deadlines.
- Billing entry and prebills. Entering time and expenses and routing prebills. Decision points: which matters have billing restrictions, who reviews each prebill, and how write-downs are recorded.
- Trust accounting data entry. The procedure for recording deposits and disbursements in the firm's system. Decision points: which approvals the firm requires before a disbursement and who reviews the entries.
- Closing a matter. The closing checklist. Decision points: final billing, closing letters, returning client documents, and moving the file to closed status under the firm's retention policy.
Why do law firm procedures break down?
Every court and every attorney is different. E-filing portals differ by court. Attorneys have their own preferences for how a matter is set up and how prebills come to them. Staff learn those preferences one mistake at a time.
Staff turnover takes the procedure with it. When an experienced paralegal leaves, the knowledge of how the firm actually handles a rejected filing or a trust disbursement request leaves too.
Procedures live in email. The real instructions are in a thread from two years ago, forwarded to each new hire, with a correction buried in a reply.
Writing it down competes with billable work. The people who know the procedures are the people with the least unbilled time. For principles that keep procedures usable once they exist, read SOP best practices for procedures people follow.
What does a conflict check look like as a procedure?
This is an illustrative example. The rule in it belongs to one hypothetical firm. It is not legal or ethics guidance, and your firm's conflicts policy governs.
A click log says:
Type party name in Search. Click Search.
SopWow says:
Search every party named on the intake form, including the adverse party and any related companies listed. Search the last name alone and any spelling variants, not only the full name. If any search returns a possible match, do not clear it yourself: send it to the conflicts reviewer with the match noted. (In this recording: test matter, no matches on either party.)
The first tells a new assistant which box to type in. The second tells them what counts as done and who decides the hard cases.
The rule comes from the person who recorded the task. After the recording, SopWow asks what it could not see, such as what happens when a search returns a match. Anything the AI added that it did not observe stays flagged until a person keeps or removes it.
How does SopWow handle confidential client information?
The recorder captures element descriptors, meaning which button, which field, and which page, not the values typed into fields. Data with a recognizable shape, such as Social Security numbers, card numbers, emails, phone numbers, and street addresses, is redacted in the browser before text is sent to any AI model, export, or sync.
Screenshots are never sent to an AI model. They build the visual guide and stay in your workspace. But a screenshot can show a client name, a matter name, or an opposing party, and pattern-based redaction can miss names in free text. Where you can, record against a test matter. Every SOP gets a human review, including a redaction check, before approval.
Whether recording a given workflow fits your confidentiality obligations is the firm's call. The detail on what is captured is in how SopWow handles client data.
What won't SopWow do for a law firm?
It is not legal advice. SopWow documents your firm's staff procedures. It does not tell you what a rule requires.
It does not assess ethics compliance. SopWow does not certify that a procedure meets professional conduct rules, court rules, trust accounting requirements, or any other law or regulation.
It only records the browser. Desktop document management, desktop word processing and email, remote desktop sessions, and paper steps are not captured. Steps outside the browser can be added by hand in review.
It does not integrate with your systems. SopWow records work done in browser-based systems such as Clio and court e-filing portals. It does not connect to them or read their data.
Firms that handle closings often work alongside title and escrow teams; see how real estate and property teams document transaction workflows.
Product names are trademarks of their owners. SopWow is not affiliated with them.
Frequently asked questions
Is SopWow legal advice?
No. SopWow writes down how your staff do the work. It does not advise on what the law, a court rule, or a professional conduct rule requires.
Does SopWow calculate court deadlines?
No. It documents how staff enter deadlines and hearings in your calendaring system, as your firm decides them. The deadline itself is the firm's calculation.
Will client names appear in the SOP?
Typed field values are not captured, and shaped data is redacted before text is sent anywhere. Screenshots can still show client and matter names, so use a test matter where you can and check every screenshot in review.
Does SopWow integrate with Clio or our court e-filing portals?
No. It records work done in them in Chrome or Edge. It does not connect to them, read their data, or file anything.
Can we document our trust accounting procedure?
Yes, as data-entry procedure: which screens, which fields, and which approvals your firm requires. SopWow does not assess whether that procedure meets trust accounting rules.
Ready to get your first firm procedure written?
Record the next matter opening or e-filing your team does, using a test matter if you can. Your first 3 SOPs are free, with no card required.