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Hourglass
What it is
Hourglass captures attorneys’ work across email, documents, calls and research, then drafts time entries with matter details, billing codes and AI-written narratives. Before billing, it checks entries against each client’s outside counsel guidelines to help prevent deductions. Firms can provide guidelines as PDF, Word or email files; Hourglass turns requirements into rules tied to source paragraphs. If a deduction occurs, it links the deduction to the entry, attaches work evidence and drafts an appeal for review. Every entry requires timekeeper approval, and Hourglass says it never submits entries for anyone. Capture integrations include Outlook, Word, Teams, Zoom, browsers and legal research tools; billing destinations include Elite 3E, Aderant, ProLaw, Litify and Clio. Each firm receives a separate deployment and database. Security information describes TLS, AES-256 encryption at rest and readable audit records. Data is hosted and processed in the United States. Pricing is on request.
For and against
For
- Drafts entries with matters, codes and narratives
- Checks entries against client billing guidelines
- Links deductions to evidence and appeal drafts
- Requires timekeeper approval before billing
- Provides separate firm deployment and database
Against
- Pricing is available on request
- Implementation typically takes about a month
- No expense tracking
- No billable-rate tracking
The verdict
Hourglass centers on compliant legal time capture, review and deduction appeals rather than automatic submission. Its integrations and separate deployments support firm workflows, while human approval remains required.
Who it suits
Hourglass is described for litigation and insurance-defense firms that need structured time capture and billing-guideline checks. Rollouts typically begin with a small pilot group and take about a month.
On the record
- Appeals
- Hourglass ties deductions to entries, attaches evidence of the work, and drafts appeals for the billing team to review and edit.onhourglass.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Assurance
- Hourglass states that it has a SOC 2 Type I report and that its report and commitment letter outlining its path to Type II are available on request.onhourglass.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Audience and onboarding
- Hourglass describes its customers as litigation and insurance-defense firms and says implementation typically takes about a month, beginning with a small pilot group.onhourglass.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Billing compliance
- It checks time entries against client outside counsel guidelines before prebill to help prevent deductions.onhourglass.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Billing rules
- It checks time entries against each client’s outside counsel guidelines before submission to help prevent deductions.onhourglass.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Custom integrations
- Hourglass says it can build a custom integration in two weeks when a firm’s system is not listed.onhourglass.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Data location
- Firm deployments and customer data are hosted and processed in the United States.onhourglass.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Data location and retention
- The security page says firm deployments and customer data are hosted and processed in the United States; core records follow firm-configured retention and the enterprise agreement, while processing data and operational logs generally have a rolling retention period of no more than 30 days.onhourglass.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Data retention
- Core customer records follow the firm’s configured retention and enterprise agreement; processing data and operational logs generally have rolling retention of no more than thirty days.onhourglass.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Dedicated deployments
- Each firm runs in its own application deployment and database, with customer application data not pooled into a shared database.onhourglass.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- Each firm gets a separate application deployment and database, with customer application data not pooled into a shared firm database.onhourglass.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Encryption and audit
- Hourglass says requests are protected with TLS, data is encrypted at rest with AES-256, and each firm has an audit record it can read.onhourglass.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Guideline setup
- Firms can upload client guidelines as PDF, Word, or email files, and Hourglass extracts requirements into rules linked to their source paragraphs.onhourglass.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Human approval
- Every entry requires timekeeper approval before it reaches a bill, and Hourglass says it never submits on anyone’s behalf.onhourglass.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Human review
- Every entry requires timekeeper approval before it reaches a bill, and Hourglass says it never submits entries on anyone’s behalf.onhourglass.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Incident notice
- The security page says affected firms are notified within 72 hours of a security incident.onhourglass.com · read 9 Oct 2026
- Incident notification
- The security page says affected firms are notified within 72 hours of a security incident.onhourglass.com · read 8 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The integrations page lists tools including Outlook, Word, Teams, Zoom, Chrome, Claude, Harvey AI, and billing systems such as Elite 3E, Aderant, Clio, and Filevine.onhourglass.com · read 9 Oct 2026
