Smokeball
Microsoft-integrated practice management with automatic time capture and 20,000+ forms
What is Smokeball?
Smokeball is a hybrid desktop/cloud practice management platform with automatic passive time capture across Word and Outlook, 20,000+ jurisdiction-specific forms, and the Archie AI matter assistant. It is now part of Thomson Reuters following the 2024 acquisition, giving it tighter integration with Westlaw and Practical Law. The product is known for AutoTime, which silently tracks billable activity in the background so attorneys do not have to start and stop timers.
Legal AI, contract review, legal operations, e-discovery, practice management, and compliance tools.
See the full Legal AI guide to compare more tools, buyer criteria, and related workflows.
Use cases to evaluate
Recovering 5-15 billable hours per attorney per month by enabling AutoTime passive capture in Word and Outlook
Generating jurisdiction-specific family law or real estate forms from the 20,000-form library
Trust accounting and LEDES-compliant billing for hourly, contingency, and fixed-fee matters
Firm profitability and staff productivity reporting via Firm Insights on Prosper+
Fit to evaluate
Small to mid-sized US, UK, and Australian firms (2-30 timekeepers) standardized on Microsoft 365
Family law and conveyancing practices that need deep jurisdictional form libraries
Partners frustrated with attorney time-entry leakage who want automatic capture
Firms wanting Thomson Reuters/Westlaw alignment in their practice stack
Business fit
Right for you if your team lives in Outlook and Word, hates manual time entry, and wants passive AutoTime capture to recover billable hours that fall through the cracks. Skip if you need a fully browser-based experience on day one (Bill and Boost are browser-native but Grow/Prosper+ workflows still lean on a Windows client) or want transparent flat pricing without a quote. Best fit for small to mid-sized firms in family law, real estate, conveyancing, estates, and PI that want Microsoft 365 to be the workspace. Not ideal for Mac-only shops or in-house legal teams.
How to evaluate Smokeball
Use this category when legal document volume, review speed, or research workload is creating bottlenecks.
Confirm the exact workflow
Map Smokeball to one concrete workflow first, such as recovering 5-15 billable hours per attorney per month by enabling autotime passive capture in word and outlook. Avoid buying before the owner, trigger, output, and success metric are clear.
Check category fit
Compare legal data handling, review controls, citations, and matter workflows.
Compare practical alternatives
Shortlist Smokeball against Harvey, Legora, Spellbook so the decision is based on fit, effort, and workflow ownership rather than brand recognition alone.
Validate cost and rollout effort
Four tiers all starting from $149/month: Bill (billing and trust accounting only), Boost (full practice management plus Microsoft 365 integration), Grow (best value, adds practice-area templates and automated forms), and Prosper+ (adds Firm Insights reporting, advanced intake, AutoTime, Workflows). Archie AI assistant is an add-on on lower tiers. Per-user pricing is quote-based. Also confirm implementation time, support needs, and whether the medium setup matches your team.
Compare Smokeball with alternatives
Use this quick comparison before booking demos or moving data into a new system.
| Primary workflow | Recovering 5-15 billable hours per attorney per month by enabling AutoTime passive capture in Word and Outlook, Generating jurisdiction-specific family law or real estate forms from the 20,000-form library |
|---|---|
| Best-fit team | Small to mid-sized US, UK, and Australian firms (2-30 timekeepers) standardized on Microsoft 365, Family law and conveyancing practices that need deep jurisdictional form libraries |
| Implementation effort | Medium setup and maintenance profile |
| Pricing check | Contact sales |
| Closest alternatives | HarveyLegoraSpellbookEvenUp |
Smokeball pricing
| Model | Contact sales |
|---|---|
| Snapshot | Four tiers all starting from $149/month: Bill (billing and trust accounting only), Boost (full practice management plus Microsoft 365 integration), Grow (best value, adds practice-area templates and automated forms), and Prosper+ (adds Firm Insights reporting, advanced intake, AutoTime, Workflows). Archie AI assistant is an add-on on lower tiers. Per-user pricing is quote-based. |
| Checked |
Common questions about Smokeball
What is Smokeball?
Smokeball is a hybrid desktop/cloud practice management platform with automatic passive time capture across Word and Outlook, 20,000+ jurisdiction-specific forms, and the Archie AI matter assistant. It is now part of Thomson Reuters following the 2024 acquisition, giving it tighter integration with Westlaw and Practical Law. The product is known for AutoTime, which silently tracks billable activity in the background so attorneys do not have to start and stop timers.
What is Smokeball used for?
Common use cases: Recovering 5-15 billable hours per attorney per month by enabling AutoTime passive capture in Word and Outlook; Generating jurisdiction-specific family law or real estate forms from the 20,000-form library; Trust accounting and LEDES-compliant billing for hourly, contingency, and fixed-fee matters; Firm profitability and staff productivity reporting via Firm Insights on Prosper+.
How much does Smokeball cost?
Four tiers all starting from $149/month: Bill (billing and trust accounting only), Boost (full practice management plus Microsoft 365 integration), Grow (best value, adds practice-area templates and automated forms), and Prosper+ (adds Firm Insights reporting, advanced intake, AutoTime, Workflows). Archie AI assistant is an add-on on lower tiers. Per-user pricing is quote-based.
Who is Smokeball best for?
Smokeball fits Small to mid-sized US, UK, and Australian firms (2-30 timekeepers) standardized on Microsoft 365, Family law and conveyancing practices that need deep jurisdictional form libraries, Partners frustrated with attorney time-entry leakage who want automatic capture, Firms wanting Thomson Reuters/Westlaw alignment in their practice stack. Right for you if your team lives in Outlook and Word, hates manual time entry, and wants passive AutoTime capture to recover billable hours that fall through the cracks. Skip if you need a fully browser-based experience on day one (Bill and Boost are browser-native but Grow/Prosper+ workflows still lean on a Windows client) or want transparent flat pricing without a quote. Best fit for small to mid-sized firms in family law, real estate, conveyancing, estates, and PI that want Microsoft 365 to be the workspace. Not ideal for Mac-only shops or in-house legal teams.
What are alternatives to Smokeball?
Common alternatives to Smokeball include Harvey, Legora, Spellbook, EvenUp, Paxton AI, Robin AI.