Vincent is an AI-powered legal assistant that brings advanced legal research and artificial intelligence directly into your Clio Operate (formerly ShareDo) environment. By connecting your operational data with an LLM-powered intelligence tool, you can automate complex research, build legal arguments, and compare documents without leaving your matter management workspace.

This integration is being released in stages. Phase one focuses on the user interface, allowing you to access Vincent features manually. Future updates will embed these capabilities into the Clio Operate workflow engine, enabling you to automate these processes entirely.

Configuration Process

The Vincent integration follows the standard pattern for Clio Operate integrations. Currently, the integration will be configured for you, but in the future, if you have administrative permissions, you can configure how and where Vincent appears within your system.

To set up the Vincent integration, follow these steps:

1. Verify that the Vincent global feature is enabled in your system settings. The integration relies on a business rule named 'Has Vincent permission', which checks that this global feature is active before granting access.
2. Navigate to your team management settings and locate the "Vincent users" team.
3. Add the relevant users to the "Vincent users" team. This action automatically grants them the "Use Vincent" system permission. Once added, the user will see the Vincent matter pages and document action buttons. Removing a user from this team will immediately revoke their access and hide these interface elements.
4. (Optional) Open the global Menu Editor to add a standalone Vincent menu command. While the system automatically adds Vincent to all matter portals, you can manually place a menu command on a global launchpad or workspace. This allows users to open the Vincent widget in a blade to conduct general research outside the context of a specific matter.

How Vincent Works

Vincent acts as a legal research assistant that understands the context of your matters. It uses a vast library of legal authorities to provide verified insights and draft content.

• Legal Research and Fact Analysis
  You can ask Vincent broad legal questions directly from a matter. For example, you can provide details of a personal injury claim and ask Vincent to identify the essential elements required to establish liability under English law. In a future release, Vincent will also analyse "Case Facts" stored in your matter wiki to identify causes of action or build legal arguments.
   
• Document Comparison and Intelligence
  Vincent integrates seamlessly with your document repository. You can select multiple documents, such as historical and current health and safety manuals, and ask Vincent to produce a detailed comparison table. It identifies specific changes—such as reduced inspection frequencies—that may impact your assessment of a case.
   
• Interactive Drafting
  Once Vincent generates an analysis, you can continue the conversation to create work product. You can instruct Vincent to draft emails to defendants based on its findings, adjusting the tone and including specific deadlines. Currently, you need to manually copy the generated draft into an email task; in a future release, this may be automated.

Interoperability with Clio Operate Features

Vincent is designed to work across the entire Clio Operate ecosystem:

• Matter Wiki and Chronology: You can save Vincent’s research output directly to your matter wiki or add it to a case chronology so it is visible to all team members.
• Workflow Engine: In upcoming updates, you will be able to trigger Vincent actions within the workflow canvas. For example, when a client uploads a document via the Client Portal, the system can automatically instruct Vincent to check for discrepancies and alert a lawyer via a task.
• Microsoft Office Integration: Vincent will soon be available within the Clio Operate Word and Outlook add-in, allowing you to research and draft while working on your documents and emails.

Key Use Cases

1. Broad Legal Research
   Vincent allows you to perform comprehensive legal research without leaving your matter. Because it is connected to a library of billions of legal authorities, it provides verified answers backed by case law and statutes.
   1. How to use it: From the Vincent component, enter a natural language question, such as: “What are the essential elements required to establish liability in a professional negligence claim under English law?”
   2. The benefit: You receive a structured summary of the law, which you can then save directly to your matter wiki for other team members to reference.
       
2. Building Arguments from Case Facts
   You can use Vincent to bridge the gap between raw data and legal strategy. By analysing the "Facts of the Case" stored in your matter, Vincent can suggest potential causes of action. 
   1. How to use it: Highlight the facts of a claim within your matter wiki (e.g., a "slip and trip" incident report) and select the Build an Argument workflow.
   2. The benefit: Vincent identifies the legal strengths and weaknesses of the claim from either a claimant or defendant perspective, helping you prepare your initial strategy.

3. Automated Policy and Document Comparison
   One of Vincent's most powerful features is its ability to analyse disparities between documents. This is particularly useful for identifying changes in standards or protocols over time.
   1. How to use it: Select two documents from your matter repository (e.g., a 2019 Health and Safety Policy and a 2024 updated version). Select the Policy Comparison workflow.
   2. The benefit: Vincent generates a comparison table highlighting key differences, such as changes in inspection frequencies or training protocols. This allows you to quickly identify if a defendant has lowered their standards.
       

4. Human-in-the-Loop Drafting
   Vincent simplifies the transition from research to communication by drafting correspondence based on its findings.
   1. How to use it: After Vincent completes a document comparison or research task, provide a follow-up prompt: “Draft an email to the defendant asking them to explain the rationale for lowering the safety standards identified in the table above.”
   2. The benefit: You retain full control ("human-in-the-loop") to refine the tone and details, but the heavy lifting of summarising the data is handled automatically.

Using Vincent

Open Vincent using either the button in the left-hand nav for a full-screen view or the ribbon menu for a blade view. You can also select documents in the repository explorer to analyse with Vincent.

The Vincent interface has the following functions (the numbers in the image correspond to the numbered list below):

1. Select a jurisdiction you would like to concentrate on.
2. Add any documents you want to work with.
3. Enter your question or instruction.
4. In the drop-down menus (4, 5, 6), select the type of research, analysis, or a different workflow.

Find full details of these functions on the Vincent Home help pages.