Strategic Value & Key Workflows

This document outlines the business value proposition, core workflows, and operational impact of PMS Sync — the integration between Aderant Expert and Clio Operate (built on the Sharedo platform). It is designed for stakeholders, product owners, and business analysts evaluating the integration's impact on firm operations.

Executive Summary

PMS Sync acts as a streamlined, automated pathway for importing Practice Management System (PMS) records — Clients, Matters, and Parties — from Aderant Expert directly into Clio Operate. By removing swivel-chair data entry from matter inception, the integration reduces administrative overhead and minimizes the compliance risks associated with human error.

Business Value Proposition

• Efficiency & Time Savings: Automating the transfer of matter details saves an estimated 10–15 minutes per matter inception (estimate — to be validated during the pilot). Over thousands of matters annually, this represents significant FTE capacity recovery.
• Data Integrity: Removes the rekeying step that causes discrepancies between financial/PMS data (Aderant) and operational workflow data (Clio Operate).
• Risk Mitigation: Accurate capture of participant roles and opposing parties gives the firm's downstream conflict-of-interest and billing processes structured, reliable inputs.
• Seamless User Experience: Via an embedded widget, the integration is available from within the Clio Operate portal. Users never have to break their workflow to access external tooling.

Key Business Workflows

1. The Matter Import Process

The primary workflow enables staff to pull an existing matter into the cloud ecosystem:

1. Search: Users input a Matter ID, Client ID, or text string. The portal queries the on-premise Aderant API in real-time.
2. Preview (Dry Run): The orchestration layer retrieves data and simulates entity creation. Users are presented with a transparent diff comparing Aderant source data with the proposed Clio Operate schema.
3. Execution: Upon confirmation, the system creates/updates ODS Client and Participant records in Clio Operate, provisions the Work Item (Matter), and attaches participants with mapped roles.

2. Participant Data Synchronization

To prevent duplicate contacts, the integration searches existing Clio Operate parties by name and presents candidate matches for each Aderant party. A staff member then confirms whether to link to an existing party or create a new one — a human-in-the-loop control applied to every party decision before the import runs. Parties created by the import are stamped with their Aderant identifiers for traceability.

Security & Compliance Posture

Data privacy and system integrity are paramount:

• All authentication is governed by Alterspective Keystone (Microsoft Entra ID / OIDC).
• The on-premise Aderant agent exposes a read-only query surface (reads via GET; database permissions govern what the SQL account can do). It is protected by an API key and is reachable only via an outbound tunnel — cloud components never connect to the database directly.
• A centralized Supabase repository logs all import attempts, providing a complete audit trail of who imported what, and when — alongside structured application logs and an optional SIEM webhook export.