Actionstep Accelerates AI Innovation With Trace, a Next-Gen Time Capture Module for Modern Law Firms
New AI-driven product eliminates manual time tracking and fast-tracks time to bill, extending Actionstep’s momentum in operational and profitability innovation for law firms.
January 28, 2026 — Denver, CO — Actionstep, a leading provider of cloud-based law firm management software supporting nearly 5,000 law firms globally, today announced a major acceleration of its product roadmap with the upcoming launch of Trace, a next-generation time capture module designed to help law firms capture more accurate billable work with less effort.
The announcement reinforces Actionstep’s commitment to solving one of the most persistent and costly challenges in legal operations: manual, incomplete, and delayed time capture.
For decades, lawyers and law firm professionals have relied on timesheets and memory to reconstruct their day, a process that is inefficient, error-prone, and directly tied to lost revenue. Trace reimagines time capture by leveraging powerful new AI technology and passive activity tracking, capturing work as it happens across the tools legal teams use every day, including Outlook, Word, PDFs, and common websites.
Powered by next-generation AI, Trace automatically detects activity, understands the legal work performed, maps it to the correct client and matter, and generates draft, bill-ready time entries for review and approval. Keeping human judgement firmly in control, while automating the mundane administrative burden.
“For modern law firms, time capture should no longer depend on painful end-of-day guesswork or end-of-week catch-up. With Trace, time capture happens seamlessly in the background, helping firms maximize revenue realization while dramatically reducing timekeeper administration” said Triona Buckley, Chief Product Officer at Actionstep.”
To accelerate the development of Trace, Actionstep recently acquired an early-stage passive time capture startup, “Traced,” and welcomed its founder Aiden Bub–an experienced AI product leader–into Actionstep’s in-house Time Capture team. This strategic move strengthens Actionstep’s ability to deliver workflow-embedded, intelligence-driven AI that is purpose-built to improve both efficiency and quality of law firm operations.
“Time and billing is one of the most strategic pillars of practice management,” said Buckley. “We’ve been closely watching the market for truly innovative, AI-powered approaches to time capture that have proven the benefits for midmarket customers. We identified Traced as the best option for Actionstep to add to our broader advanced time capture capabilities given its midmarket focus, depth of features and product maturity. We loved the name, but modified it to Trace, as modern time capture happens in the present tense, not in retrospect!”
Trace is the latest in a growing portfolio of AI-enhanced capabilities designed to help firms operate with greater clarity, confidence, and control.
“Trace uses AI to ensure work is captured accurately, coded correctly, and presented using firm-approved language and preferences,” Buckley added. “Trace fast-tracks billing and supports more flexible rate models. It’s a win for law firm management, a win for everyone who tracks time at law firms, and a meaningful leap forward for our customers who already rely and love our core time capture features today.”
Strong market demand
Demand for improved time capture continues to grow across the legal industry. According to Actionstep’s 2025 US Midsize Law Firm Priorities Report, operational inefficiencies—including manual and incomplete time tracking—remain a major challenge. The report found that 35% of midsize firms rank time tracking among their top technology investment priorities, citing its direct impact on financial performance and client service.Trace directly addresses these challenges while aligning with Actionstep’s ongoing commitment to help firms operate efficiently, profitably, and with clarity.
Trace features key capabilities including:
- Passive, AI-enabled activity capture — automatically detects work across applications.
- Precision time tracking — captures time down to the second for unmatched accuracy.
- AI-powered matter mapping — intelligently assigns captured work to matters and billing codes.
- AI-generated narratives — creates compliant, bill-ready entry descriptions.
- Off-platform capture — tracks billable work happening in Outlook, Word, PDFs, websites, and other sources (as well as activity in Actionstep).
- Flexible rate card improvements — decouples time from rates to support modern billing structures
Availability and early access
Trace will be available to select Actionstep customers from February 2026, with a full release planned for April 2026. Existing Actionstep customers can continue using current time tracking features as part of their core platform offering, while Trace will be offered as a premium add-on module.
Actionstep customers and partners interested in joining the Trace early adopter program can register immediately. Trace will also be featured in a number of upcoming customer and partner webinars and demonstrated live at Actionstep’s exhibition at Legalweek 2026 in March.
Building on a broader AI-driven roadmap
The announcement of Trace follows a series of recent Actionstep product launches including Acumen, its advanced business intelligence module and Capture, its intuitive data collection module, a reflection of the company’s ambitious product roadmap focused on helping midsize law firms modernize operations and build long-term competitive advantage.
For more information, register your interest in Trace here.
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About Actionstep
Actionstep is the leading law firm management platform for midsize firms around the world. Built to adapt to a firm’s unique strengths and goals, Actionstep empowers firms to modernize operations and build lasting advantages in the legal marketplace. Connected capabilities like client intake, matter management, document management and automation, time tracking, billing, legal accounting, and business reporting, support nearly 50,000 users globally. Learn more and request a demo at www.actionstep.com.
For more information, press inquiries, or to arrange an interview, please contact:
Jobst Elster
Envision Agency
+1 (850) 459-4947
