Vincent is an AI legal assistant that works inside your matters in Clio Operate. Vincent reads what is recorded on a matter, answers questions about it, researches the law and drafts work for you. With your approval, Vincent also updates the matter, for example by creating a task or recording time.
Your administrator decides who can use Vincent and on which types of matter. If Vincent does not appear on a matter, contact your administrator.
Some features depend on the version of the Vincent integration that your firm has installed. If a feature in this article is missing, ask your administrator.
Before you start
You need access to Vincent. Your administrator gives you access by adding you to the ACL - Vincent Users team.
The first time that you use Vincent, you must link your Vincent account to Clio Operate:
- Select your name in the top-right corner of Clio Operate.
- Select My linked accounts.
- In the My Linked Services blade, under AI, find Vincent AI and select Link.
- Sign in to Vincent in the window that opens.
If your link expires, Clio Operate displays a notice that asks you to link your account again. Select the notice and sign in again.
Open Vincent
You can open Vincent from several places. What Vincent can use depends on where you open it.
| Where | How | What Vincent can use |
|---|---|---|
| On a matter | In the matter's navigation menu, select Vincent. | Everything recorded on the matter, including its documents. |
| From the matter's documents | Select one or more files, then select Analyse with Vincent in the ribbon. Vincent opens in a blade. | The selected files and the matter. The button is unavailable when a folder is selected. |
| From a document preview | On the preview toolbar, select Analyse with Vincent. | That document and the matter. |
| From a launchpad or workspace | If your firm has added Vincent there, select it. | General legal research only. Vincent has no matter to work from. |
In the Vincent blade, select Toggle Fullscreen for more space, or Close to return to the page. A conversation that you start from documents also appears in the matter's list of conversations.
Find your way around the Vincent page
The Vincent page displays the matter reference and title at the top. Below them are the question box, the buttons for Vincent's ready-made options and the conversations already held on the matter.
| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| Question box | Type a question or a request in plain language. Until you type, the box displays "Ask any question or say what you would like to do..." |
| + | Opens a menu with Add from Matter, File Upload, Folder Upload, Manage Skills, Add New Skills and Agentic Mode. |
| Jurisdiction | Displays the jurisdiction that Vincent uses for legal research, for example United Kingdom (England and Wales). Select it to choose a different jurisdiction. |
| Dictation | Lets you speak your question instead of typing it. |
| Research, Analyze and More | Open Vincent's ready-made options, for example Build an Argument, Analyze a Complaint and Create a Timeline. More opens the full list. |
| Matter conversations | Lists the Vincent conversations held on this matter. |
Agentic Mode gives you a more capable version of Vincent for most tasks. If you turn it off, Vincent uses its classic version.
Vincent sets the jurisdiction from the matter where it can. The jurisdictions that you can choose depend on your firm's Vincent subscription.
Ask about the matter
You do not need to attach anything to ask about a matter. Vincent reads the matter's records and documents itself, and displays each one that it reads.
Vincent can use the following information on a matter:
- the matter details, such as the phase, the description and the jurisdiction
- participants
- key dates
- tasks, including closed tasks
- comments
- the chronology
- the matter wiki
- custom fields and finance fields
- time entries
- related matters, with the relation, phase and title of each one
- the documents in the matter's repository
Vincent can list the matters that are related to this one, but it cannot read their details.
Vincent reads documents through the connection that Clio Operate already has to your firm's document management system, so the documents stay where they are. Vincent can search documents by name. It can also search by content in SharePoint, iManage and NetDocuments. For other systems, content search depends on whether the system supports it.
These examples show the kind of questions that work well:
- Give me an overview of this matter, the next steps and any risks.
- I'm on a call with the claimant and have 10 minutes. What information do I still need from them?
- Which documents mention the inspection records?
Work with documents
Vincent can read any document in the matter's repository without you attaching it. Attach documents when you want Vincent to focus on them.
- Next to the question box, select +.
- Select Add from Matter, then select the documents.
To add files from your computer, select File Upload or Folder Upload instead. You can also drag files onto the Vincent page. During a conversation, select Add files at the top of the conversation. By default, you can attach up to 50 documents to a conversation.
After you attach documents, Vincent lists each one with a short description of its content. Under Here are some things I can help you do, Vincent then suggests things that it can do with the documents. For example, you might attach a letter of claim and a witness statement. Vincent could then offer to match the testimony to the claims or build a liability matrix.
- Select the suggestions that you want Vincent to carry out, or select All.
- Optionally, type your own request in the box below the suggestions.
- Select Submit, the arrow button.
Ask Vincent to update the matter
Vincent can make changes to the matter for you, so that you can stay in one place. Before Vincent changes anything, it asks you to approve the change.
| Information on the matter | What Vincent can do |
|---|---|
| Tasks | Create tasks, including your firm's own task types. Update, reassign and complete tasks, add comments to them and attach documents to them. |
| Task reminders | Set a reminder for a fixed time or for a period before or after the due date, and read the reminders on a task. |
| Time entries | Create, read and update time entries. |
| Key dates | Create, read and update key dates. |
| Participants | Add participants to the matter, including people and organisations that already exist in Clio Operate. |
| Matter details | Update the matter description, custom fields and finance fields. |
| Matter wiki | Read and update sections of the matter wiki. |
| Comments | Read and add comments. |
For example, after Vincent gives you an overview of the matter, you can ask it to act on the next steps:
- Create a task for the matter assistant to get a detailed statement from the site manager by Thursday.
- Bill 30 minutes of advisory time for this call.
Vincent displays each change that it proposes, with the details that it will use, for example the task type, title, due date and assignee. Choose one of these options:
- Approve Once: Vincent makes this change.
- Approve for this Conversation: Vincent makes this change, and makes changes of the same kind for the rest of the conversation without asking again.
- Reject: Vincent does not make the change, and confirms that the matter has not changed.
If Vincent cannot carry out a request, it tells you.
Research the law
Vincent researches case law, legislation and secondary sources in the vLex (part of Clio) legal library. Each answer cites the authorities that it relies on, and you can open each authority to check it.
You can combine legal research with the evidence on the matter. For example:
- I'm representing the claimant at mediation. Use the evidence on this matter to build arguments in our favour, backed by law, in a table.
Tasks that draw on the whole matter can take a few minutes to complete.
Use skills
A skill is a set of saved instructions that Vincent follows, sometimes called a playbook. A skill captures how your firm handles a task, so that everyone gets the same approach and the same kind of output. For example, a work injury intake skill could assess a new matter against your firm's criteria and score whether to take the matter on.
To run a skill:
- In the question box, type
/. Vincent displays the skills that are available to you. - Select the skill.
Vincent runs the skill against the matter's records and documents, so you do not need to attach anything. You can then save the result to the matter and ask Vincent to create a task for a colleague to review it.
To create a skill, select +, then Add New Skills. To edit your skills or share them with colleagues, select +, then Manage Skills. Your Vincent role decides whether you can create and publish skills. For details, see Skills in the Vincent help.
Check Vincent's answers
You remain responsible for any work that you base on Vincent's output. Vincent cites its sources so that you can check them.
- Open the citations in an answer to check the authorities.
- Select Show process above an answer to see what Vincent read and did.
- Ask Vincent which matter documents it used for an answer.
- Review any draft before you send it or save it.
Save and share your work
You can keep Vincent's output as a Word document, or add it to the matter.
| To do this | Select | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Save an answer to the matter's documents | Save to Matter | Below the answer |
| Download an answer | Download as Word | Below the answer |
| Download the whole conversation | Download Conversation to Word | At the top of the conversation |
To save an answer to the matter:
- Below the answer, select Save to Matter.
- In Enter File Name, type a name for the document.
- Under Destination Folder, select the folder in the matter's documents.
- Select Save.
Vincent saves the answer as a Word document. You can also ask Vincent to add its findings to the matter wiki, or to draft correspondence based on its findings. Review and edit any draft before you use it.
Who can see your conversations
Your Vincent conversations stay on the matter. Anyone with access to the matter can see your conversations, but they cannot continue or change them. To share findings more widely, save the answer to the matter's documents or add it to the matter wiki.
Rename or delete a conversation
A deleted conversation cannot be recovered.
- On the Vincent page, under Matter conversations, select the menu next to the conversation.
- Select Rename or Delete.
Record your time automatically
Vincent can record the time that you spend in a conversation and create a draft time entry for you to review. Automatic time tracking is off until you turn it on. The setting applies only to you.
Turn on automatic time tracking
- On the Vincent page, select the settings icon in the bottom-left corner. The Customize page opens.
- Select the Time tracking tab.
- Turn on Enable auto time tracking. The change saves straight away.
You can also change these settings on the Time tracking tab:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Show tips | Displays a short introduction the first time that Vincent records your time. The setting turns itself off after the introduction appears. |
| Auto-fill time entry | Vincent fills in the category, the time code and a billing summary on each draft entry. |
| Auto-pause after inactivity | How long Vincent waits before it pauses recording when you are not active. Choose 30 seconds, 60 seconds, 2 minutes or 5 minutes. |
How Vincent records your time
- Vincent starts recording when it starts to answer your first question in a conversation. Clio Operate displays "Time recording started".
- While Vincent records, the clock at the top of the screen displays a red dot and the time recorded so far.
- To pause or stop recording, select the clock, then select the pause or stop button. Vincent's recording is labelled Auto-recorded.
- When you leave the conversation, Vincent stops recording and creates a draft time entry. Clio Operate displays "Time entry created" and sends you a New time entry ready to review notification.
Review the draft time entry
Vincent creates each time entry as a draft on the matter, so nothing is submitted until you check it.
- In the notification, select Review time entry. The Edit time entry blade opens.
- Check the category, the codes, the duration and the narrative.
- Select Submit, or select Save to keep the entry as a draft.
To see all the time entries on the matter, select the clock, then View Entries.
Vincent writes the narrative from the conversation, so it might not describe your work accurately. Correct it before you submit the entry.
Related articles
- Introduction to Vincent for Clio Operate
- Using Vincent in workflows
- Setting up Vincent for your users
- Vincent Home (Vincent help)