Is it allowed to use AI for time recording and billing in Australia?
Yes, to draft an entry the solicitor then checks. The entry has to be accurate, and tool time is not described as unaided human time.
Guide
How to use AI for time recording and billing in Australia
A tool can draft a time entry from activity the firm already holds. The solicitor checks every entry, and AI time is not billed as if a person did it in silence.
Steps
Draft entries from activity you already have
Use the firm’s practice system, not a paste of the client’s documents into a public tool. The draft entry describes work a person did, or work a tool did, in words that match the activity. Queensland Guidance Statement No. 37 applies if the narrative contains confidential instructions.
The solicitor checks every entry
Read the narrative, the units and the matter. A fluent entry can describe work that did not happen. The Law Society of New South Wales guide and the Uniform Law regulators’ statement leave that check with the solicitor whose name is on the bill.
Do not bill tool time as silent human time
If a tool produced the draft, the memo or the summary, the bill and the costs disclosure should not read as if a solicitor did that work unaided. Tell the client when the arrangement requires it. The disclosure guide uses the Queensland Law Society warning template as the starting point for that conversation.
Record the checks: Costs and billing tasks · Open the court note for the forum · Read the Brightflag profile before you upload a file
On a small screen, scroll the table sideways.
| Tool | Australian data hosting | Profile region | Pricing model | Capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brightflag | See the comparison that lists it | on_request | Enterprise quote · Pricing | Matter management, Intake and triage, Document summarisation, Agentic workflows |
Sources
Costs and billing tasks · Telling clients about AI use · Brightflag · All guides
Questions
What tools are used for time recording and billing?
Firms use their practice-management tenancy. Brightflag is in this catalogue for legal spend. Read the pricing page on the profile before you treat a figure as a quote.
Can AI-generated work be written up as solicitor time?
Only in words that tell the truth about who did it. Costs disclosure and the client arrangement decide what may be charged. A false narrative is not saved by a tool.